TAP Advances Across Greece, Albania
Almost 40% of the steel pipes for the Greek and Albanian sections of the TransAdriatic Pipeline are now in the ground and buried, the press-service of TAP consortium said July 25.
TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to EU countries.
The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (Tanap) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.
TAP will be 878 km long. The Greek section is 550 km, the Albanian 215 km, the sub-Adriatic Sea section is 105 km and landfall in Italy runs for just 8 km before connecting with the national grid – but despite being only a tiny percentage of the total length it punches above its weight in terms of the local hostility it has caused. The mayor has tried to block it on environmental grounds. It is expected that the construction of TAP will be completed in late 2019, and its operation will begin in 2020, subject to delays being minimal from now on.
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of UK major BP, Azerbaijan's state oil company Socar and Italian Snam (all with 20%), Belgian Fluxys (19%), Spain's Enagas (16%) and Swiss Axpo (5%).
New country manager for Greece
TAP announced July 26 a new country manager for Greece: Katerina Papalexandri is replacing Rikard Scoufias. Papalexandri has almost 20 years' experience in the energy industry with her expertise being in gas markets and projects, commercial negotiations and stakeholder management. She joins TAP from BP in London, where she has held numerous senior positions throughout her career since she joined the company in 1998.
From 2006 to 2012, Papalexandri worked for BP based in Athens as senior market advisor for Gas Europe & Africa, as well as business developer for Caspian gas. In November 2015, Papalexandri, took up the position as senior commercial manager for the SGC, where she managed the commercial aspects of the whole gas value chain.
Azerbaijan desk, William Powell