IAP project participants to meet in Baku

The companies participating in the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) project will meet in February this year within the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Board, Report informs.

According to a reliable source in SOCAR, the meeting will focus on the progress made in IAP, which will join the TAP project.

In September 2019, gas transportation operators from 4 Balkan countries, namely Montenegro Bonus, Albgaz, BH-Gas and Plinacro, agreed to establish a joint venture to build the IAP project. The participants of this project, which was frozen due to the pandemic in 2020-2021, intend to complete the work and made this statement at an online meeting of the IAP working group on January 18.

According to preliminary estimates, the project, which will start in Split, Croatia and then pass through Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a length of 540 km and an annual capacity of 5 billion cubic meters of gas, will cost 600 million euros, but no investment decision has been made. Thus, the project participants will decide whether to start construction or not, depending on whether TAP is expanded or not. This issue is expected to be resolved by the end of this year.

“IAP is essential for the Western Balkans and Southeast Europe. Within the framework of this project, a separate gas master plan is being prepared for each participating country in consultation with SOCAR. Natural gas can replace coal in those countries, and gas turbine power plants will be built. IAP can also be connected to the LNG terminal in Krka,” the source said.

In total, through the IAP project, Albania will receive 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year, Montenegro 0.5 billion cubic meters, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 billion cubic meters, and Croatia 2.5 billion cubic meters. The project means the opening of a new energy corridor for Southeast Europe as part of the 4th Corridor, which will transport new natural gas from the Middle East and the Caspian region to the European Union. The pipeline will transport gas in both directions.

The feasibility study for the IAP project was prepared in April 2014 and received a grant from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The IAP, which was not included in the list of projects of common interest to the EU in December 2021, is expected to be commissioned in 2025, as it also covers non-EU countries.

Azerbaijan has been exporting natural gas to Europe since the end of 2020. The scope of these exports will be further expanded with the completion of the Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), Romania-Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia-Greece interconnectors, BRUA (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria) and Serbia-Bulgaria gas pipeline projects.