The Italian government has given its final approval to the 10 bcm/year Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas interconnection project, saying that it is no longer possible to intervene and block the project, which was planned by the previous government and carries several contractual obligations. The interruption of the process would involve unsustainable costs.
The 10 bcm/year TAP pipeline that aims at delivering Caspian natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to European markets broke ground in 2016. It will spread across 878 km, from the Turkish-Greek border, through Greece and Albania, passing under the Adriatic Sea and ending in southern Italy. The project is slated for completion in 2020 and once built, it will fit into the framework of the broader Southern Gas Corridor (SCG), which will spread across 3,500 km and includes the Southern Caucasus Pipeline in Azerbaijan and Georgia, the TAP project and the TANAP pipeline in Turkey.
The €4.5bn project is developed by Snam with a 20% stake, along with BP (20%), Socar (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagas (16%) and Axpo (EGL) (5%).