GALSI ( it, Gasdotto Algeria Sardegna Italia) was a planned natural gas pipeline from
Algeria
)
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, capital = Algiers
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, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
to
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian language, Italian, Corsican language, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese dialect, Algherese and Catalan languag ...
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 ...
, 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 ]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 ...
and Algeria
)
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, 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 Af ...
, 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 offshore section with two legs would be laid between Koudiet Draouche and Porto Botte ( 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.
O ...
( LI). It would be connected to the existing Italian gas grid in Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
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, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
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, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
.[
]
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.][
]
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 ...
. The current shareholders of Galsi are:[
]
* Sonatrach
Sonatrach ( ar, سوناطراك; french: Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is ...
(Algeria) - 41.6%
* Edison S.p.A. (Italy) - 20.8%
* Enel
Enel S.p.A. is an Italian 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 as a public body at the ...
(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 ...
) - 15.6%
* Sfirs (Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian language, Italian, Corsican language, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese dialect, Algherese and Catalan languag ...
Autonomous Region) - 11.6%
* Hera Trading (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 ...
) - 10.4%
According to the agreement between Sonatrach and Russian 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 large ...
, it would have been possible for Gazprom to have a stake in the Galsi pipeline.[
]
See also
* Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline
* Greenstream 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