GALSI ( it, Gasdotto Algeria Sardegna Italia) was a planned natural gas pipeline from

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and further northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, as an extension to the TransMed Pipeline.

History

The feasibility study was completed in 2005. The intergovernmental agreement on the GALSI pipeline was signed between

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 14 November 2007. Early in 2008 one of the project founders,

Wintershall Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, was Germany's largest crude oil and natural gas producer. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF. The company was active in oil and gas exploration and production with operations in Europe, North Afr ...

, sold its share to other shareholders and left the project. In 2007, while surveying the proposed route between Sardinia and Algeria, sonar data from an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) revealed a large wreck, later determined to be the French battleship ''Danton'', sunk in 1917.

Route

The pipeline would start from the

Hassi R'mel Hassi R'Mel ( ar, حاسي الرمل, Berber language: Ḥasi Eṛṛmel) is a town in Algeria located near the 18th largest gas field worldwide. Hassi R'Mel is located in Laghouat Province northwest of Ghardaïa. It is the capital of Hassi R' ...

field in Algeria and the section would run to Koudiet Draouche on the coast of

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The offshore section with two legs would be laid between Koudiet Draouche and

Porto Botte Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

( CI), Sardinia. The Sardinian section would be planned approximately from the south to

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...

. The offshore section between Sardinia and Italian mainland is and the landfall would be

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ove ...

( LI). It would be connected to the existing Italian gas grid in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. The exact offshore route should have been selected by Dutch engineering contractor

Fugro Fugro is a Dutch multinational public company headquartered in Leidschendam, Netherlands, that specializes in collecting and analysing geological data, both on land and at sea. Employing approximately 9,000 people in 65 countries, Fugro serv ...

by July 2008. As of 2021 project is considered to be shelved.Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting of Snam S.p.A. 28 April 2021
/ref>

Technical features

The pipeline diameter would vary between . The initial capacity would be 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per annum. Total estimated costs of project are €2 billion. The pipeline was expected to become operational in 2014. The Italian section should have been built by

Snam Rete Gas Snam S.p.A. is an Italian energy infrastructure company. As of 31 December 2019, it had a market capitalization of €15.4 billion. Snam was originally a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni. It has since become an independent company, whos ...

Project company

The project company Galsi S.p.A. was incorporated on 29 January 2003 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. The current shareholders of Galsi are: * Sonatrach (Algeria) - 41.6% *

Edison S.p.A. Edison S.p.A. is an Italian electric utility company headquartered in Milan. The company was established in 1884 and acquired by Electricité de France in 2012. Edison employs more than 5,000 people in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Ch ...

(Italy) - 20.8% *

Enel Enel S.p.A. is an Italian Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established ...

(

) - 15.6% * Sfirs (

Autonomous Region) - 11.6% *

Hera Trading In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

(

) - 10.4% According to the agreement between Sonatrach and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

, it would have been possible for Gazprom to have a stake in the Galsi pipeline.

References

External links

Project GALSI
(in French) Natural gas pipelines in Italy Natural gas pipelines in Algeria Economy of Sardinia Proposed pipelines in Africa Proposed pipelines in Europe Algeria–Italy relations Pipelines under the Mediterranean Sea {{Pipeline-stub