TAP’s first ever offshore pipelines in Albania were successfully pulled ashore on March 30. The pipeline head reached kilometre point 0, where the offshore joins with the onshore section, at 12:50 hrs.
For this operation, TAP’s engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contractor for the offshore section of the project, Saipem, used its pipelay barge Castoro 10. Steel pipes were welded together on board the vessel, which was located 1.4km from the beach. The welds were then tested and the pipeline was lowered onto the seabed. The first 1.8km of welded pipe was pulled ashore at the landfall near Fier.
Saipem’s 139-meter long and 36-meter wide Castoro 10 pipelay barge now continues to lay pipes in Albanian shallow waters, to be followed by fibre optic cable installation and backfilling offshore and at the landfall.
TAP marked the start of construction works for the offshore pipeline section in October 2018.
TAP’s offshore section, linking the Albanian and the Italian coasts, is 105 km long.
The pipes will be laid on the Adriatic seabed: 37 km in Albanian territorial waters,25 km in Italian territorial waters; and 43 km in international waters.
The deepest point of the pipeline will be more than 810 metres beneath sea level. Approximately 9,000 pipes, with a 36-inch diameter, will be used, weighing approximately 100,000 tonnes in total.
About the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)
TAP will transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe. The 878 km long pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
TAP’s routing can facilitate gas supply to several South Eastern European countries. TAP’s landfall in Italy provides multiple opportunities for further transport of Caspian natural gas to the wider European market.
Once operational, the Southern Gas Corridor will offer a new source of competitively priced gas for the European Union energy market. The new energy link will increase diversity and security of supply especially in Southern Europe, currently reliant on a single supplier. TAP is recognised as a European Union Project of Common Interest (PCI).
TAP promotes economic development and job creation along the pipeline route; it is also a major source of foreign direct investment. With first gas to Georgia and Turkey now being delivered, first deliveries to Europe will follow in 2020.
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).