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)