Dates and volumes of gas shipments after start of TAP expansion revealed

Market testing, which is necessary to make a final decision on increasing the capacity of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), will be held from January 16 to January 22, Luca Schieppati, CEO of the TAP AG consortium, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Report informs.

“This summer, we have been working to prepare the start of the process and in November, the Italian Regulatory authority for energy networks and the environment (ARERA) approved an update of our commercial proposal which includes a market window from January 16 to January 22 during which operators will be able to request long-term transportation capacity. We have tried to expedite the process as quickly as possible by rescheduling this mandatory testing phase, initially scheduled for July,” Schieppati said.

According to him, such a need appeared because requests for additional volumes of gas in January amounted to 2.5 billion cubic meters. This is because Russia shuts off gas taps and there is a vast search for alternative sources.

“We can start investing in infrastructure upgrades only after the economic sustainability check has been completed. With this first step, we will be able to make 50% of this 2.5 bcm available by 2025 and then complete the second tranche in 2026. However, full coordination between TAP and all operators is necessary to achieve the goal.

When deciding on the modernization of the gas pipeline, full synchronization will be required between gas demand, production and construction of the pipeline through which it will be transported,” TAP AG CEO said.

In 2022, Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to the European Union by 40% to 11.5 billion cubic meters. In 2021, Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe amounted to 8.2 billion cubic meters.

The construction of TAP was completed in October 2020. The total length of TAP is 878 km, of which 550 km passes through the northern part of Greece, 215 km through Albania, 105 km - along the bottom of the Adriatic Sea and 8 km - through the territory of Italy.

The TAP AG consortium is considering three scenarios for increasing the pipeline capacity: limited - up to 14.4 billion cubic meters, partial - up to 17.1 billion cubic meters, and full - up to 20 billion cubic meters per year.

Azerbaijani gas supplies to consumers in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria via TAP began on December 31, 2020.