Azernews.Az

The Ministry of Energy, Environment and Climate Change of Greece and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project have agreed on June 21 the Host Government Agreement (HGA) in Athens, TAP reported.

According to the report, the HGA sets out the framework by which the project will be realized and operated on Greek territory. This includes processes related to land easement and acquisition, the implementation of technical, safety, environmental and social standards and permitting.

TAP's report said that it will be one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment in Greece, and is estimated to cost approximately Euro 1.5 billion for the Greek section.

According to TAP's Managing Director Kjetil Tungland, TAP has now all necessary political agreements in place for the decision of consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development.

"I remain absolutely confident that our proposal is the strongest from the technical, commercial and political points of view, with the overwhelming support of the host governments," Tungland said.

The TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to the south of Italy and further into Western Europe. Gas to be produced during the second stage of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development is considered as the main source for TAP.

The TAP route will be approximately 870 kilometres in length (Greece 550 km; Albania 210 km; offshore Adriatic Sea 15km; Italy 5 km). TAP's initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres per year, but is easily expandable to 20 billion cubic metres per year. TAP's shareholders are AXPO of Switzerland (42.5 percent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 percent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 percent).

The longest section of the TAP pipeline will be in Greece. The pipeline will start at Kipoi at the Turkish-Greek border, and will cover some 550km entering Albania northwest of Dipotamia.

Currently, the Shah Deniz consortium considers two options for its gas transportation to Europe - TAP and Nabucco West. The final decision on the pipeline route will be made at the end of June 2013.