TIRANA (Albania), February 21 (SeeNews) – The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is more than 85% completed, TAP managing director, Luca Schieppati, said.
“In total, between Greece and Albania, 98% of pipes are in the ground (backfilled),” Schieppati said in a Twitter post on Wednesday, after attending the 5th Southern Gas Corridor advisory council in Azerbaijan's capital Baku.
In January, TAP said it has reached a financial close, securing 3.9 billion euro ($4.4 billion) financing from public and private lenders.
TAP has also launched construction works in Albania for the 105 km offshore section across the Adriatic Sea that will link the pipeline to Italy’s gas transmission network.
Connecting with the TANAP at Greece's border with Turkey, TAP will stretch across northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before reaching Italy's coast where it will connect to the Italian natural gas network.
TAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which also comprises the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) crossing Azerbaijan and Georgia, and TANAP.
The shareholders of TAP are BP, Azerbaijan’s state company Socar and Italy’s Snam with 20% each, Belgium’s Fluxys with 19%, Spain’s Enagas with 16% and Swiss-based Axpo with 5%.
($ = 0.88133 euro)