The European Commission (EC) approved the agreement on construction of the southern gas corridor, namely the TRANS-Adriatic pipeline (Trans Adriatic Pipeline, TAP). It is reported TASS with reference to the EC statement, released today in Brussels.
“The European Commission found that the agreement between the Greek authorities and TRANS-Adriatic gas pipeline compliant with EU regulations on state aid. This project will improve the security and diversification of energy supply of the EU, without violating the rules of competition in the internal market”, – stated in it.
The document States that the project will be invested 5.6 billion euros in five years, 2.3 billion of which is in Greece.
The agreement on construction of TRANS-Adriatic pipeline was signed in Athens on 13 February 2013 Greece, Albania and Italy. The pipeline will be used for delivery to Europe via the Turkish gas transmission network of the Azerbaijan natural gas extracted within the second stage of field development, “Shah Deniz” in the Caspian shelf, with reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters.
It is planned that TAP will run on 478 km through the territory of Greece from Komotini in North-East and crosses Albania (209 km) and along the bottom of the Adriatic sea (105 km) reach of the South of Italy. It is expected that the pipeline will be commissioned in 2019. The initial capacity of TAP is 10 billion cubic meters with a possible extension of up to 20 billion cubic meters.
