The pipeline has been constructed to facilitate gas supplies to South Eastern European countries
Piping and isolation valves at the cooling towers of the Kipoi compressor station. (Credit: Trans Adriatic Pipeline.)
BP and its partners have announced that the €4.5bn ($5.3bn) Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has commenced commercial operations.
The TAP pipeline is an 878km-long natural gas transportation pipeline from the Caspian region to Europe, through Greece, Albania, and Italy.
The pipeline, which facilitates gas supplies to South Eastern European countries, transports natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
TAP Board of Directors chairman Murad Heydarov said: “As a key component of the 3,500km Southern Gas Corridor, TAP combines strategic and market competitive features.
“It ensures that Europe can receive supplies from yet another source, while supporting the key EU objectives of achieving an integrated energy market, and a sustainable, secure and diversified energy mix, contributing to ongoing streams towards clean energy transition.”
TAP pipeline is part of Southern Gas Corridor project
The TAP pipeline begins at Kipoi in Greece at the border with Turkey and it connects to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).
It runs for 550km across the entire territory of Northern Greece, 215km onshore in Albania, 105km offshore under the Adriatic Sea and comes ashore in Italy.
The shareholders of the project include BP (20%), the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR, 20%), Snam (20%), a natural gas transmission system operator Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%), and Swiss energy company Axpo (5%).
With an initial capacity of 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, TAP is said to be an important part of the $45bn Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project.