Trans Adriatic Pipeline 65% Completed: TAP Comm. Head

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is on schedule with 65 percent of the project completed at the end of 2017, including engineering, procurement and construction, TAP Head of Communications Lisa Givert said Monday.

Givert told Anadolu Agency that in Greece as of mid-January, 518 kilometers (km) of the pipeline's route was cleared, around 473 km of the pipes were strung, over 457 km were welded, 362 km have been back-filled and approximately 265 km are being reinstated.

TAP is an 878 kilometer-long cross-border natural gas pipeline, currently under construction, stretching from the Greek/Turkish border crossing Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy. TAP will connect at its entry point to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) in Turkey.

"In Albania, approximately 168 km have been cleared and graded along our route, 163 km line pipes strung, 157 km welded and approximately 133 km back-filled. Circa 116 km are being reinstated," Givert said,

"This means that between Greece and Albania, TAP has now cleared and graded 90 percent of its corridor (approximately 687km out of 765km). Additionally, we have welded 80 percent of steel line pipes and around 65 percent pipes are already in the ground (back-filled)."

- First gas in 2020

Givert added that progress in Italy currently involves second permitting activities in line with the country's Ministry of Economy initial permit granted on May 20, 2015.

"We have also removed the first set of olive trees in the micro-tunnel area between March and July 2017. These trees are carefully looked after at a nearby nursery and will be planted back to their original location once pipeline construction works have been completed. Also, the last shipment of offshore line pipes has been offloaded in Brindisi, Italy, between Sept. 3 and 6," Givert noted.

He said that TAP’s contractor, Saipem, is working on the micro-tunnel area. Following the completion of the temporary road and area preparation, they are now digging the pit to enable the building of the micro-tunnel.

"Also, thus far, we have driven approximately 61.5 million km and worked over 22.5 million-man hours without any major safety incidents, which is a very good performance," she stressed.

Givert underlined that the project remains on schedule and the company is working towards being ready to deliver first gas from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan in 2020.

The project company TAP AG is the constructor, owner and operator of the project. Partners BP (U.K.), Snam SpA (Italy), Southern Gas Corridor Company (Azerbaijan) each have a 20 percent stake, Fluxys SA (Belgium) has a 19 percent share, Enagas (Spain) has 16 percent interest and Axpo Trading (Switzerland) has a 5 percent share in TAP AG.

(Anadolu Agency)

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