TAP signs deal with Albania to deliver first gas exit point Fier

A cooperation and handover agreement for the Fier South gas facility was signed between Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG, the Albanian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, and Albgaz Sh.a., a statement from TAP said on July 7.

TAP will design, procure and construct the gas exit point with a multimillion Euro investment.

The facility will be built outside of TAP's compressor station in Fier and will have an expandable capacity and the possibility for bidirectional flow.

"The Fier gas exit point reinforces the role of TAP in the Western Balkans area, not only as a reliable Transmission System Operator (TSO) but also as an active partner in Europe's energy transition," TAP AG said.

According to the agreement, once the construction of the Fier South Facility is finished, the exit point will be handed over to the Albanian state after which the Albanian government will fully own, manage and operate it.

"The new facility is a significant milestone for Albania's gasification as it will enable an interconnection point between the TAP transportation system and future gas infrastructure in Albania. The new gas exit point in Fier will provide a strategic access point for Albania and the Western Balkans to gas reserves in the Caspian region," the statement read.

TAP, as the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, transports natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe. The 878-kilometer-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.

Following the commencement of gas deliveries via TAP in December 2020, the pipeline carried a...