September 30 (SeeNews) - The construction works on Albania's section of the 878 km Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will transport Azeri gas to Europe, were officially launched on Friday, the namesake company in charge with the project said.
By now progress of TAP in Albania includes 23 km of right-of-way (RoW) cleared, 12 km pipe strung, 8 km of pipe welded and 56% of pipes delivered, as line pipes and bends continue to arrive on Durres, TAP said in a statement.
TAP added that over 94% of access roads and bridges have been already completed.
"TAP has made huge progress over these last few years and the evidence is what you see here today: steel pipes on the ground, heavy machinery in the background, right of way being cleared and trenches dug waiting for pipe to be laid," TAP Managing Director Ian Bradshaw said at the inauguration ceremony, as quoted in the statement.
As one of the largest foreign investments in the country, TAP will have a positive impact on the country’s energy sector and will help encourage other foreign investments.
In the preparation works until now about 90% of the workforce has been from Albania.
TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year, which could double further on.
The project's shareholding is comprised of BP, SOCAR, Snam, Fluxys, Enagas and Axpo.