The €4.5bn Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas interconnection project has successfully completed financial close and has secured a €3.9bn support from the European Investment Bank (EIB), EBRD, export credit agencies bpifrance, Euler Hermes and Sace, and a group of 17 commercial banks. This is the largest project finance agreed for a European infrastructure project throughout 2018.
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. As of November 2018, the project's construction was 82.4% complete. 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 project is developed by Snam with a 20% stake, along with BP (20%), Socar (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagas (16%) and Axpo (EGL) (5%).