The funding is part of a total €6.5bn financing approved by EIB for 36 projects in 17 European Union countries and schemes in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Expected to have an initial capacity of 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the pipeline project has provision for capacity expansion of up to 20bcm of gas per annum based on the demand.
Part of the Southern Gas Corridor, the TAP project is intended to transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to several South Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and others.
The Southern Gas Corridor is an initiative launched by the European Commission for the supply of natural gas from Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to European countries.
Construction of the project is currently underway with the first gas deliveries to Europe scheduled in 2020. The project is aimed at enhancing the security and diversification of gas supplies in the European market.
In September 2017, the project partners said that more than 50% of the pipeline construction was complete nearly 16 months after the start of construction work.
At that time, TAP managing director Luca Schieppati said: “We are pleased that TAP continues to progress on time and on budget. We therefore remain on track to deliver the first Shah Deniz II gas in 2020, bringing a much-needed new source of energy into the European energy network.”
TAP is owned by BP with 20% stake, SOCAR with 20% interest, Snam with 20% share, Fluxys with 19% interest, Enagás with 16% share and Axpo with 5% stake.
Image: The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline runs from Greece to Italy, via Albania and the Adriatic Sea. Photo: courtesy of Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
