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By Trend

On March 31st, PRISMA European Capacity Platform GmbH and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG have signed an agreement that will open up TAP´s future transportation capacity marketing activities on the PRISMA platform, where transmission system operators, storage system operators and shippers market gas capacity at both primary and secondary market levels, Trend reports citing PRISMA.

“PRISMA’s agreement with TAP is in line with our aim to establish a fair and transparent market by facilitating the integration and security of gas capacity trade. By making the European section of the Southern Gas Corridor available on our platform, PRISMA adds a crucial pathway to ensuring the stability and diversity of energy supplies in Europe,” said the company.

By making use of the single platform, offering harmonised and common standards and procedures for capacity booking, TAP will help further the integration of European markets, said PRISMA.

“TAP joining PRISMA will add an essential new step towards ensuring effective integration and competition at the European gas market through PRISMA’s well-established position at the heart of transnational markets”, said Goetz Lincke, PRISMA’s Managing Director.

“With the TAP project now more than 94% complete, we continue to focus on operational readiness and the start of commercial operations within the end of the year. TAP will bring a new source of gas into Europe, contributing to a more diversified and secure energy mix and our collaboration with PRISMA is a key element in enabling our service offering,” said Luca Schieppati, TAP Managing Director.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

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