TIRANA (Albania), June 8 (SeeNews) – The Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s natural gas compressor station in the Albanian city of Fier will be ready to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2019, TAP said on Friday.
Around 31% of the construction works on the station has been completed, TAP project manager John Haynes said in a video file posted on the Facebook page of Albanian prime minister Edi Rama following the start of the installation of three turbo compressors in the station.
Also present, Rama said the compressor station is another major investment of TAP which will ensure economic development and boost employment.
Currently, 210 employees are working at the compressor station site. From next month through to 2019 jobs are expected to peak at 250, TAP said in a video presentation.
TAP started the construction of two compressor stations (one near Kipoi, in the east of Greece, and one near Fier, in southwestern Albania) in the first quarter of 2017 and the projects are proceeding according to schedule. In addition to the two compressor stations, a gas metering station is under construction near Bilisht, in southeastern of Albania. Works at the metering station also commenced in the first quarter of 2017 and are now 35% completed.
As of end-April 72.5% of TAP gas pipleine project was completed, including engineering, procurement and construction, 96% of the pipeline route in Albania and Greece was cleared and around 80% of the pipes were laid in the ground, according to the presentation.
Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (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%.