In its current form, TAP is set to deliver 8 Bcm/year of gas into Italy, 1 Bcm/year to Greece, and 1 Bcm/year to Bulgaria, via the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB). The current official start-up date is Q4 2020, although Bulgaria will need to wait until the completion of the IGB – expected in Q2 2021 at the earliest – to receive its long-term Azerbaijani volumes.
TAP gas will help to reduce Italian, Greek, and Bulgarian dependence on Russian gas. There are seven long-term buyers of TAP gas destined for Italy for 8 Bcm/year: Shell, Engie, Uniper, Naturgy, Hera Trading, Enel, and Axpo. In addition, DEPA has contracted for 1 Bcm/year of gas for Greece and Bulgargaz for 1 Bcm/year for Bulgaria.
TAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which will deliver 16 Bcm/year of Caspian and Central Asian gas directly to Europe (6 Bcm/year to Turkey, 2 Bcm/year to Greece and Bulgaria, and 8 Bcm/year to Italy). The corridor passes through Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Italy. It comprises of two other major projects – the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCPX) through Azerbaijan and Georgia and the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) through Turkey.