Covering a total distance of 520 km, the pipeline will originate near Thessaloniki, Greece, and cross Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before terminating near Brindisi, Italy. The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 10 Bcm/a of natural gas. Approximately 115 km of the pipeline will be offshore. The offshore pipeline will have a diameter of 42 inches, while the onshore pipeline will be 48 inches in diameter.

In June 2009, local and international engineers as well as environmental and social specialists began refining the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) route to avoid impacting the Hotova National Park and other environmentally significant areas and cultural heritage sites.

Six different route options were considered, but the final route was selected because it has minimal impact on forests and avoids all cultural heritage sites. It will also be shorter and easier to construct than the route identified during the basic engineering phase.

In summer 2010, Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG presented the revised routing to the Albanian officials, local stakeholders and non-governmental organisations. The Albanian government endorsed the optimised pipeline route to be used for the formal application and permitting process in Albania. The next steps for the pipeline in Albania will include the environmental and impact assessment as well as securing access to land and easement.

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The route refinement process in Italy is also progressing – in 2009 Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG collected feedback from local stakeholders on various alternatives. Together with the local authorities, the company is presently conducting additional surveys to select the best option.

TAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, a term used to describe infrastructure projects that bring gas from Caspian and Middle Eastern sources to Europe. Existing pipeline systems can only transport gas from these regions to the border of Greece, and as a result, Europe is currently reliant on gas from Russia.

By linking Greece and Italy, TAP will connect Italy’s SNAM ReteGas gas transportation grid with the existing DESFA pipeline system in Greece, allowing Caspian Sea and Middle Eastern gas to enter southern Europe. Accordingly, TAP has been designated as a ‘project of common interest’ under the European Union’s Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) guidelines, and has received two European Union grants.

The planning stage of the project is already well underway. A feasibility study was completed in March 2006, and basic engineering studies were concluded in March 2007. In 2008 Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG began the front-end engineering and design process, to finalise the design and refine the pipeline system. Once this is completed, the company will invite tenders for pipeline construction.

Recently, Norwegian Statoil and Swiss-based EGL have confirmed the successful financial close of E.ON Ruhrgas’ 15 per cent shareholding in the TAP project.

Statoil and EGL now each hold a stake of 42.5 per cent in Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG, with German company E.ON Ruhrgas holding a 15 per cent share.