EGL (Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG), a Swiss-based energy trading company that has its own power-production assets, and Croatia's Plinacro d.o.o. agreed to interconnect the two pipelines they are developing to supply Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, thus helping the SEE countries diversify their natural gas sources.
Executives from both companies on Sept. 25 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Croatia's capital Zagreb, which allows for the linking of the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) with EGL's Trans Adriatic Pipeline, known as TAP, on Albanian territory. The IAP is expected to become operational by 2012.
"Linking the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline into TAP makes a lot of sense especially as TAP will supply gas through a fourth, new corridor into Europe from the Caspian Sea and Middle East regions, thus helping expand and diversifying natural gas transport capacities to and within Europe, a key objective of the European Union's energy policy,'' Joachim Conrad, Member of the Executive Management of EGL, said.
EGL's TAP will consist of a newly-built pipeline section that is to stretch across the shortest route through Albania's territory and further offshore under the Adriatic Sea to connect with the national Italian pipeline grid near Brindisi, aimed at supplying gas to the CCGT power plants that the Swiss company owns in Italy. TAP will link eastward of Albania with pipeline systems in Greece and Turkey.
On the occasion of the signing of the MoU between EGL and Plinacro, Croatia's Minister of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship, Mr. Branko Vukelić, Montenegro's Minister for Economic Development, Mr. Branimir Gvozdenović, and Albania's Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy, Mr. Neritan Alibali, signed an Intergovernmental Declaration aiming at jointly benefiting from the development of the IAP. The government officials also agreed with the connection of IAP into TAP.
Mr. Branko Radošević, President of the Board of Plinacro, which is Croatia's state-owned Transport System Operator (TSO), said the IAP pipeline is part of its Plan for Development and Modernization. The IAP section that would also deliver gas into Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina will have a total length of about 400 kilometers, between the cities of Fier and Ploce, including 170 kilometers through Albania, another 100 kilometers through Montenegro and 130 kilometers in Croatia.