TAP to publish ITT for natural gas purchase

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will publish on its corporate website by August 1, 2022, an Invitation to Tender (ITT) outline for the purchase of gas required for its operational activities, including the fueling of the compressor stations, Azernews reports.

“The ITT outline will set out the terms of the tender process to which each bidder shall be deemed to have agreed to by their participation. A proforma Expression of Interest (EoI) form will also be available on TAP’s website so that qualifying parties can register their interest in receiving the full ITT package,” TAP AG reports.

The supply period is from October 1, 2022, until September 30, 2023, and the delivery points include the interconnection point of Melendugno (Italy), Snam Rete Gas redelivery point at Melendugno, the interconnection point of Nea Mesimvria (Greece) AND tap Virtual Trading Point, accessible for TAP shippers owning forward firm transportation capacity for the relevant period.

This is the third time that TAP is running such a tender process. The first annual ITT for gas to be used for TAP’s own operations was launched in June 2020 and the second one in May 2021.

TAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor and is a pipeline project to transport natural gas, starting from Greece via Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy and further to Western Europe.

The pipeline is supplied by natural gas from the second stage of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field development in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea through the South Caucasus Pipeline and TANAP.

The total length of the pipeline is 878 km, of which 550 km goes via Greece, 215 km via Albania, 105 km offshore, and 8 km through Italy. The offshore leg is laid at a maximum depth of 810 meters.

The initial capacity of the pipeline is about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, with the option to expand the capacity up to 20 billion cubic meters.

TAP’s shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent), and Axpo (5 percent)