The TAP project for the supply of gas, oil and other energy sources started

TAP. The process to increase supply and supply capacities along the pipeline has just been initiated Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The Energy Regulatory Authorities of Albania (ERE), Greece (RAE) and Italy (ARERA) approved
jointly the rules for the first binding phase.

The process is carried out in a coordinated manner between TAP companies and national transmission operators SNAM Rete Gas and DESFAunder Regulation (EU) 2017/459. The process is aimed at allocating long-term capacity to existing or newly constructed Interconnection Points (IPs) along the TAP route, which will increase the amount of gas that can be imported into Europe.

The TAP connection points

The Interconnection Points concerned are:

• Kipoi (Turkey Greece),
• Komotini (Greece),
• Nea Mesimvria (Greece),
• Kucove (Albania),
• Relievi Roskovec (Albania),
• Fier (Albania)
• Melendugno (Italy).

The expansion project envisages four possible levels of expansion at the Kipoi entry point (referred to as minimum, limited, partial and maximum) depending on the binding proposals to be received, up to a maximum of 27 million Smc (standard cubic metres)/day.

The binding phase started on 14 November and bids can be submitted in January 2023. TAP - Trans Adriatic Pipeline - is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which transports natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe. Linking up with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP crosses northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before arriving in southern Italy, in Puglia, where it connects to the Italian gas distribution network.

Internal Gas Network

A few days after the mid-November state visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Albania, the Azerbaijani Ambassador in Tirana, His Excellency Anar Huseynov, spoke in the local media. He said he imagined that 'Albania could become a beneficiary of natural gas from Azerbaijan, but the lack of adequate networks complicates the issue.

Therefore, our government wants to discuss the possibility of investing in the infrastructure of the Albanian gas and start, first of all, with a separate special agreement. If the investment is successful, then its scope can be expanded.

Agreements have been in place between Albania and Azerbaijan since 2014 to plan interventions in favour of the development of local gasification activities, agreements concluded with the Azerbaijani state-owned company Socar.

Some preconditions for this were created as early as 2021, when in July Tap and the Albanian company AlbGaz signed an agreement to design and build a gas outlet at Fier Sud for a connection to the future domestic network in the Land of Eagles.

The Tap pipeline itself can offer an interconnection point to the planned IAP, the Ionian adriatic pipeline to connect Albania with Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina, and thus determine the south-east European corridor.

IAP - Ionian Adriatic Pipeline

After all, it was Croatia, Montenegro and Albania that signed a declaration on the IAP in 2007, and the pipeline should be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, through which Azeri gas is currently supplied to Italy, Greece and Bulgaria.

The IAP is expected to be 530 kilometres long with a transport capacity of 5 billion cubic metres of gas per year. The estimated cost of the project is EUR 610 million. The pipeline is expected to cross Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, connecting the Croatian city of Split and the Albanian city of Fier.

The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan is already a technical advisor to the IAP. In anticipation of which, the Middle Eastern state with capital Baku is supporting interconnector projects on European soil: one between Greece and Bulgaria, the next between Bulgaria and Serbia in 2023.

Meanwhile in Vlora, as repeatedly stated by the Albanian government and the Deputy Prime Minister Belinda BallukuUS investments of Excelerate Energy and ExxonMobil, for liquid natural gas processing and thermoelectric production, are such that they are an integral and structural part of the IAP corridor, and an agreement was signed last June between the competent ministries of Albania and Kosovo and between the respective companies for the shared use of these floating facilities
state electricity.

The production of electricity from thermal sources is entrusted to two leased vessels anchored in the Triport area and intended to meet 16 per cent of the country's needs for a two-year period until work on the fixed power plant is completed.

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