Trans Adriatic Pipeline to cost 4.5 billion euros: Project chief

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which aims to pump Azeri gas to Europe by 2020, will cost 4.5 billion euros in total, the project chief has stated. 

“The project will cost 4.5 billion euros,” said TAP General Manager Ian Bradshaw, adding that this figure also includes the design and engineering works that have been continuing since 2009. 

TAP will start near Kipoi on the border of Turkey and Greece, where it will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). From there, the TAP will continue onshore, crossing the entire territory of Northern Greece, its longest stretch, then onwards east to west through Albania to the Adriatic coast.

The offshore section of the pipeline will begin near the Albanian city of Fier and it will traverse the Adriatic Sea to tie into Italy’s gas transportation network in Southern Italy.

Bradshaw noted that Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Consortium will start its first gas sales to Turkey and Georgia by the end of 2018, adding that sales to Europe are slated to begin by early 2020. 

He added that the compressor station construction of the project will start at the first quarter of this year, while the offshore works are planned to be made in 2018 and 2019. 

“We dealt with archaeological works in the summer of 2016. We have now been undertaking geological works,” Bradshaw said, adding that the administration is waiting for further loans to finance the project’s product and services procurement from a number of international bodies, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

He also added that over 8 million working hours have been completed so far without any big accident. 

The TAP will be 878 kilometers in length upon completion. Its highest point will be 1,800 meters in Albania’s mountains, while its lowest will be 820 meters beneath the sea, according to data from the project website.