Two countries approve TAP's rules of making available capacity

The Italian and Greek governments have approved procedures for the distribution of free power through auctions offered by the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline Consortium (TAP), which will transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe, Report says, citing the Italian National Regulatory Authority for Energy, Energy Networks, and the Environment (ARERA).

According to Regulation, under the calculation methodology and the rules of making available the capacity, each auction process is subject to the agreement of the directly involved transmission system operators and the approval of relevant national regulatory authorities. The national regulatory authority of any adjacent and affected Member State may provide a position that shall be considered by the appropriate national power.

On August 10th, 2020, TAP AG published on its website the “Trans Adriatic Pipeline Network Code” as jointly approved by the Regulatory Authorities for Energy of Albania, Greece, and Italy (respectively ERE, RAE, ARERA).

According to the code, competitive auctions will be realized at each pipeline exit point to distribute pipeline capacity. The national operators have already approved these procedures of all three countries - TSO TAP, SNAM Rete Gas, and DESFA.

Elshad Nasirov, vice president for investments and marketing of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), said that the $ 5 billion expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor would be available this month to increase the Shah Deniz field to 10 billion cubic meters a year.

Referring to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, Nasirov noted that new infrastructure would be ready in two weeks.