TAP launches 2021 market test

Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) has launched a new market test to allow natural gas shippers to express interest, and in a later phase, secure access to new, long-term capacity in TAP, thereby enabling the future expansion of the pipeline capacity, Report informs, citing TAP.

The market test will be conducted in two main phases: a non-binding phase, starting on 12 July 2021, followed by a binding phase, expected to start earliest in the summer of 2022.

“Approximately six months since gas flows via TAP began, more than 3 billion cubic meters of gas have been transported to Europe. While the pipeline’s current capacity is approximately 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, TAP can expand in stages, up to double its initial capacity. This means that additional gas resources can reach European markets, supporting the transition to a cleaner energy mix, especially in South Eastern Europe,” TAP’s Managing Director Luca Schieppati said.

The market test is conducted under the rules and procedures specified in the Guidelines for the 2021 Market Test of Trans Adriatic Pipeline, approved by the National Regulatory Authorities of Greece, Italy and Albania.

TAP transports natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe. The 878 km long pipeline connects with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border in Kipoi, crosses Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.