The consortium of companies involved in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has officially announced their commitment to constructing the natural gas pipeline which will tap into the Shah Deniz fields in Azerbaijan.
The pipeline, which will begin at the Greek border with Turkey and end in Italy via Greece and Albania, is being sponsored by SOCAR, Statoil, BP, Fluxys, Total, E.ON and AXPO. The construction of the new pipeline will ensure the safe supply of natural gas to Europe and increase the strategic value of the countries it traverses.
Based on the timetables publicized by the consortium, the construction for the portion of the pipeline in Greece is going to begin in 2015, with the pipeline expected to go online and begin distributing Azerbaijani natural gas in 2019.
The investment in Greece includes 550 kilometers of pipelines, which is estimated to be worth 1.5 billion euros and is expected to directly create 2,000 new jobs and a further 10,000 “indirect” jobs. At present the consortium is in the process of buying up the land along the projected pipeline path.
