Time period for TAP construction revealed

Onshore construction activities within the Trans Adriaric Pipeline (TAP) project will commence in parallel in all the host countries during the summer of 2016, while offshore construction will take place in the winter of 2017/2018.

The source said that TAP’s construction activities are progressing in line with the project schedule.

“Following TAP’s construction inauguration ceremony (17 May 2016 in Thessaloniki) the project contractors have been mobilized. TAP’s main marshalling yards have been prepared and batches of line pipes and bends continue to arrive in the ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala (Greece) as well as Durres (Albania),” the source said.

“Also, the construction and rehabilitation of access roads and bridges (combined progress) in Albania is over 65 percent complete,” the source added.

The overall construction phase will take approximately three years and will be completed in 2019, according to the source.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.

TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

Last week the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy has granted TAP its Installation Permit for Greece.

Together with the Installation Act, secured in January 2016, the Installation Permit allows the pipeline construction activities in Greece to start in line with the project schedule.