August 2017, Vol. 244, No. 8

Features

Trans Adriatic Pipeline On Track and On Budget

Activity in each of the three host countries is on time, on track and on budget, TAP officials reported in a recent news release. During the first 12 months, company officials point to several achieved benchmarks as cause for celebration:

• The project maintained a site safety record with lost-time frequency levels well below international norms.
• Contractors cleared 49% of the project route in Greece and Albania 230 miles out of 475 miles (371 km out of 765 km). Additionally, 22.6% of welded steel pipes are already in the ground.
• 68.5% of the 55,000 pipes to be used for the construction of the pipeline have been received in Greece, Albania and Italy
• More than 5,200 people have been working for the project across TAP’s host countries, over 85% of whom have been employed locally.

The TAP project was announced in 2003 by Swiss energy company EGL Group, now Axpo, which completed its feasibility study in March 2006 and signed an agreement to set up TAP AG, a joint development agreement, with Statoil in 2008.

“We are pleased with our performance,” said TAP Managing Director Ian Bradshaw. “In terms of overall project progress, we are approximately 41% complete, including all engineering, procurement and construction scope.”

TAP has what appears to be an equally ambitious program for the next 12 months as well. By this time next year, plans call for the clearing and grading of the route across Greece and Albania to have been completed and 67% of welded pipes placed in the ground.

“A project of this scale and magnitude will face daily challenges; however, we are well-positioned to address and manage them by working closely with our teams, our supply network and alongside communities,” Bradshaw added.

TAP implemented a wide range of social and environmental investment (SEI) programs in the communities along its route. Additional projects, about 70 of them, with a total value of about $16.6 million (€15 million) are due to be rolled out in the upcoming months. In total, TAP will invest over $61 million (€55 million) in SEI in Greece, Albania and Italy.

Ahead of those milestones, TAP appointed Luca Schieppati as the new managing director, replacing Bradshaw, and Walter Peeraer as president. Both began their new jobs June 27.

Schieppati joins TAP from Snam, Europe’s largest natural gas utility, where he worked since 1991, most recently as chief industrial assets officer and as managing director at Snam Rete Gas S.p.A, the group’s subsidiary, managing its 20,195-mile (32,500-km) gas pipeline network in Italy.

Peeraer most recently worked as the managing director and board member of Fluxys S.A, the Belgian-based European gas transmission assets management company, where he served in various senior positions, including CEO of Fluxys Belgium.

“With construction continuing across all three countries, the project is entering an important new phase, and I’m confident that their many years of experience and deep expertise will be essential in safely and successfully delivering this project for the European gas customers,” Chairman of the TAP Board Joe Murphy said of the new appointments.