Gas pipeline TAP installs first pipes in Albania

TIRANA, Albania – The Trans Adriatic Pipeline has started building its gas pipeline in Albania.

The TAP on Friday started putting the first of its 13,000 pipes along 215 kilometers (133 miles) in Albania.

The pipeline runs 878 kilometers (545 miles) long from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Turkey, then Greece, then goes up to 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) high in Albania and 820 meters (2,690 feet) deep under the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy.

The first gas deliveries to Europe are expected in 2020.

TAP is a joint project by Britain's BP, Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Italy's Snam, Belgium's Fluxys, Spain's Enagas and Switzerland's Axpo. It's the most western of three sections of the Southern Gas Corridor — a 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) chain of pipelines intended to deliver natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe.