TAP announces pre-qualification process for line pipes, bends

By Gulgiz Dadashova

Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG, designed to transport Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas to Europe, has launched its pre-qualification process for onshore line pipes and bends. The scope for this contract has been divided into six lots which will be delivered to marshalling yards in Kavala and Thessaloniki in Greece and Durres in Albania, TAP reported on December 18.

The total length required for the line pipes will be approximately 780 km, totalling approximately 443,000 tonnes in weight, with a diameter of 48 inches and 36 inches respectively. Knut Steinar Kvindesland, Procurement Director at TAP they divided this particular contract into six separate lots in order to give the maximum opportunity for companies to prequalify.

“The selection of potential suppliers for this contract will, as with all the other TAP contracts, be rigorous. A key requirement that our contractors must meet are the highest standards on Health, Safety and Environment and commitment to TAP’s ‘zero harm’ policy”,” he said.

TAP will launch the pre-qualification process for offshore line pipes in early 2015.

TAP will transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe. The approximately 870 km long pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy. TAP’s routing can facilitate gas supply to several South Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and others. TAP’s landfall in Italy provides multiple opportunities for further transport of Caspian natural gas to some of the largest European markets such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland and Austria.

TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Statoil (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).