June 2019, Vol. 246, No. 6
Projects
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline Crosses Rocky Mountains of Albanian
The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) crossed the rocky mountains of Albania, putting it on track to start delivering gas to Europe next year.
Stretching 546 miles (878 km) from Turkey’s border across Greece, Albania’s mountains, and the Adriatic Sea to Italy, TAP is a cornerstone of the European Union’s energy security policy to wean the bloc off Russian gas.
The pipeline will transport up to 10 Bcm of natural gas a year from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Italy from next year.
Out of TAP’s $5.04 billion (4.5 billion euros) price tag, the section across Albania required a third of that cost due to the challenging terrain.
“We are proud to have risen to this challenge and delivered a world-class pipeline, crossing mountains of over 2,000 meters above sea level,” TAP Albania Manager Malfor Nuri told Reuters.
Most of the pipe laying has now been completed in Greece and Albania. Apart from the terrain, the developers had to deal with 100 times more owners in Albania than they would have to other European countries and double the number of landowners it had to deal with in Greece, representatives of TAP AG in Albania said.
The pipeline crossed rivers 19 times, including the Seman River eight times. Building work had to be halted at times to let doves build their nests under environmental rules. P&GJ
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