Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) ( sq, Gazsjellësi Trans-Adriatik, el, Διαδριατικός Αγωγός Φυσικού Αερίου - ''Diadriatikós Agogós Fysikoú Aeríou'', it, Gasdotto Trans-Adriatico) is a
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
pipeline proposed in 2003, constructed in 2016, and operational since 2020, from
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
at the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
to Europe from
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
through
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
and the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...
to
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 ...
. It is a European section of the
Southern Gas Corridor
The Southern Gas Corridor is an initiative of the European Commission for a natural gas supply route from Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe, proposed in 2008. The goal of the Southern Gas Corridor is to reduce Europe's dependency on Ru ...
. capacity is 10 bcm per year.
The natural gas originates in the second stage of the
Shah Deniz
Shah Deniz gas field ( az, Şahdəniz) is the largest natural gas field in Azerbaijan. It is situated in the South Caspian Sea, off the coast of Azerbaijan, approximately southeast of Baku, at a depth of . The field covers approximately . Stretch ...
(
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
) gas field development in the Azerbaijani section of
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
flowing through the
South Caucasus Pipeline
The South Caucasus Pipeline (also known as Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum Pipeline, BTE pipeline, or Shah Deniz Pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Turkey. It runs parallel t ...
and the
Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).
[
] The TAP has been supported by European institutions and seen as a "Project of Common Interest" to enhance
energy security
Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to (relatively) cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven d ...
and diversify gas supplies for European markets.
[
]
It is operated by a Swiss joint venture and owned by
BP (20%),
SOCAR
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti), largely known as SOCAR is fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and ...
(20%),
Snam
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, who ...
(20%),
Fluxys
Fluxys is a Belgium-based company, mainly acting as a natural gas transmission system operator. In 2004, it employed around 850 people and its infrastructure comprised about of pipelines and a terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The company is lis ...
(19%),
Enagás
Enagás, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ) is a Spanish energy company and European transmission system operator (TSO), which owns and operates the nation's gas grid. The firm also owns four liquefied natural gas regasification terminals ...
(16%) and
Axpo.
History
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline project was announced in 2003 by
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
* Swiss Internation ...
energy company EGL Group (now named Axpo). The feasibility study was concluded in March 2006. Two options were investigated: a northern route through
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
,
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
and
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
, and a southern route through Greece and Albania, which finally was considered to be more feasible. In March 2007, the extended basic engineering for the pipeline was completed.
[
] Greece was opposed to having the route of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline pass through Albania, as it would allow Albania to become the transmission hub for gas in the Western Balkans.
On 13 February 2008, EGL Group and the Norwegian energy company
Statoil
Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. ...
signed an agreement to set up Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG, a joint venture to develop, build and operate the pipeline.
[
] In June 2008, the company filed an application with the Greek authorities to build a section of the pipeline from
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
to the Greek-Albanian border.
[
] In January 2009, the TAP carried out a marine survey in the Adriatic Sea to verify the offshore route.
[
] A route assessment survey in Albania started in July 2009.
[
] In March 2009, an intergovernmental agreement between Italy and Albania on energy cooperation mentioned TAP as a project of common interest for both countries. In January 2010, TAP opened country offices in Greece, Albania and Italy.
[
] In March 2010, TAP submitted an application to Italian authorities for inclusion into the Italian gas network.
[
]
On 20 May 2010, it was announced that
E.ON becomes a partner in the project.
[
] The deal was closed on 7 July 2010.
[
]
In November 2010, TAP started a route refinement survey in northern Greece in preparation for the
environmental impact assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
.
[
] On 7 September 2011, the company submitted an EU Third Party Access Exemption applications in all three host countries, which allows TAP AG to enter into long term ship-or-pay gas transportation agreements with the shippers of
Shah Deniz II gas.
[
][
] The exemptions were granted on 16 May 2013.
[
][
]
In February 2012, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline was the first project to be pre-selected and to enter exclusive negotiations with the
Shah Deniz Consortium.
[
] In August 2012, consortium partners
BP,
SOCAR
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti), largely known as SOCAR is fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and ...
and
Total S.A.
TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...
signed a funding agreement with TAP's shareholders, including an option to take up to 50% equity in the project.
[
] On 22 November 2012, the TAP consortium and
Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline
The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP; az, Trans-Anadolu Təbii Qaz Boru Kəməri, tr, Trans-Anadolu Doğalgaz Boru Hattı) is a natural gas pipeline in Turkey. It is the central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects th ...
's partners signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a cooperation framework between the two parties.
[
]
On 28 September 2012, Albania, Greece and Italy confirmed their political support for the pipeline by signing a memorandum of understanding.
[
] In February 2013, Greece, Italy and Albania signed an intergovernmental agreement.
[
]
In June 2013, the project was chosen as a route for gas from Shah Deniz II over the competing
Nabucco West project.
[
] Later in 2013, BP, SOCAR, Total, and
Fluxys
Fluxys is a Belgium-based company, mainly acting as a natural gas transmission system operator. In 2004, it employed around 850 people and its infrastructure comprised about of pipelines and a terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The company is lis ...
became shareholders of the project.
[
] In September 2014, E.ON and Total sold their shares to
Enagás
Enagás, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ) is a Spanish energy company and European transmission system operator (TSO), which owns and operates the nation's gas grid. The firm also owns four liquefied natural gas regasification terminals ...
and Fluxys.
[
] In December 2015,
Snam
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, who ...
joined TAP, acquiring Statoil's 20% interest in the project.
Construction of the pipeline started on 16 May 2016.
[ On 15 November 2020, the pipeline began commercial operations,] and the first Azerbaijani gas was delivered to Italy on 30 December 2020.[
]
Technical description
The pipeline starts at the Greece–Turkey border at Kipoi, Evros, where it is connected with the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline
The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP; az, Trans-Anadolu Təbii Qaz Boru Kəməri, tr, Trans-Anadolu Doğalgaz Boru Hattı) is a natural gas pipeline in Turkey. It is the central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects th ...
. It crosses Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea and comes ashore in Italy near San Foca. The total length of the pipeline is , of which in Greece, in Albania, in offshore, and in Italy. The offshore leg is laid at a maximum depth of .
The initial capacity of the pipeline is of natural gas per year, of which is delivered to Italy, to Greece, and to Bulgaria.[ It will be expanded up to .][ It uses pipes for pressure of on the onshore section and pipes for pressure of on the offshore section.][
]
Total construction costs were about €4.5 billion. A third of it was spent for constructing the section within Albania.
The Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) is intended to connect Greece and Bulgaria.
Project company
Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG is a joint venture company registered in Baar, canton Zug, Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, with a purpose of planning, developing and building the TAP pipeline.
[
] The Managing Director of the company is Luca Schieppati.
Shareholders of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline are BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).[
]
Protests
There have been incidents of protests by both local citizens and government officials against the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
In Italy, the TAP required the construction of a gas terminal in a historical olive grove in the countryside near the Apulian town of Melendugno
240px, D'Amely baronial Palace.
Melendugno (Salentino: or ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy.
It is known for its ''marine'', which are bathing beaches on the Adriatic Sea: Roca Vecc ...
. The site presents some century-old olive trees which were explanted and transferred to an alternative location in an operation that cannot guarantee the trees' survival. This was criticised by the local public as well as environmentalists, also in relation to a deadly parasitic disease (Xylella fastidiosa) which has been affecting olive groves in the region for years, and can spread to previously unaffected areas with tree relocation.
Furthermore, the pipeline's landing point on the Italian coast is located under the pristine beach of San Foca, a popular destination for beachgoers. Locals and environmentalists raised safety concerns regarding millions of cubic litres of compressed flammable gas being piped only 10 metres under a beach which will be kept open to the public during the summer months.
Some government officials, such as multiple mayors from the area and the governor of the region of Apulia
it, Pugliese
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographic ...
, also supported the environmentalists' opinion that the pipeline might cause more harm than good and could be an opportunity for local organised crime and corruption to infiltrate public tenders for construction work on the Italian side. They worried especially in relation to a taxpayer-funded 60-kilometre long interconnector which had to be built to link the TAP's Italian terminal in Melendugno to Italy's national gas network near the industrial port of Brindisi
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histo ...
. In 2016, the Apulia Region governor Michele Emiliano told an Al Jazeera English crew that he could not understand why an alternative landing point to San Foca beach, closer to the Brindisi industrial area, was not chosen in spite of lower costs, less severe environmental impact, and proximity to pre-existing gas infrastructure.
See also
* Interconnector Turkey–Greece–Italy
An interconnector (also known as a DC tie in the USA) is a structure which enables high voltage DC electricity to flow between electrical grids. An electrical interconnector allows electricity to flow between separate AC networks, or to link sy ...
* Burgas–Alexandroupoli pipeline
* South Stream
South Stream (russian: Южный поток, Yuzhnyy potok; bg, Южен поток, Yuzhen potok; sr, / ; sl, Južni tok; hu, Déli Áramlat; it, Flusso Meridionale) was a canceled pipeline project to transport natural gas of the Russia ...
* Nabucco pipeline
The Nabucco pipeline (also referred as Turkey–Austria gas pipeline) was a failed natural gas pipeline project from Erzurum, Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, Austria to diversify natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The pi ...
* Ionian Adriatic Pipeline
The Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) is a proposed natural gas pipeline in Southeast Europe. It would run from Fier in Albania through Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Split in Croatia.
In Fier, IAP would be connected with the Trans Adri ...
* TANAP
The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP; az, Trans-Anadolu Təbii Qaz Boru Kəməri, tr, Trans-Anadolu Doğalgaz Boru Hattı) is a natural gas pipeline in Turkey. It is the central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects the ...
References
External links
*
{{Energy in Albania
Natural gas pipelines in Greece
Natural gas pipelines in Albania
Natural gas pipelines in Italy
Albania–Greece relations
Albania–Italy relations
Greece–Italy relations
Pipelines under the Mediterranean Sea
Adriatic Sea
2020 establishments in Albania
2020 establishments in Greece
2020 establishments in Italy