BAAR, Switzerland, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The consortium behind a pipeline that would help diversify the European energy sector with Azeri gas said Wednesday momentum is moving toward a 2016 build date.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline consortium called for separate bids to build compressor stations in Greece and Albania for the project designed to deliver gas to Europe.
The company said the compressor stations in question would be in line to support an initial capacity of 353 billion cubic feet per day from the Shah Deniz II natural gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan.
TAP is slated to transport natural gas from the second phase of the Shah Deniz natural gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan as early as 2019. It's part of the network of pipelines included in the Southern Corridor of gas programs meant to diversify a European energy sector dependent on Russia.
The project consortium said it plans to award the compressor contracts by the middle of next year. Construction is slated to begin in 2016.
BP, leading Azeri developments alongside a state-backed energy company, has awarded more than $1 billion in development contracts since selecting the TAP as its option for Shah Deniz last year. TAP would connect to the Trans-Anatolian natural gas project running through Turkey to the Greek border.
TAP will carry Shah Deniz gas from there to the European Union.
