TAP route and infrastructure

The entire pipeline is buried at least one metre beneath the ground to protect the environment and minimise its impact on neighbouring communities. Only facilities such as the Pipeline Receiving Terminal (PRT), compressors and block valve stations are visible above ground. 

TAP begins at Kipoi in Greece, at the border with Türkiye. 550 kilometres of pipeline, with one compressor station near Kipoi and 23 block valve stations, extend across the country, to exit at the border with Albania, south-west of Ieropigi. 

The pipeline route travels from the municipality of Devoll, in Korça region, approximately 214 kilometres across land, before entering the Adriatic Sea. TAP has a metering station at Bilisht, near the Albanian-Greek border, with eight block valve stations and one landfall station. The pipeline arrives at the Adriatic coast 17 kilometres north-west of Fier. TAP has a compressor station 400 metres inland from the shoreline.

The subsea section of TAP sits on the Adriatic seabed for approximately 105 kilometres in the strait of Otranto, up to a depth of approximately 810 metres. In water less than 300 metres deep, pipes are concrete coated for mechanical protection and stability.

TAP arrives on the Italian coast north of San Foca via a 1.5 kilometre micro-tunnel, more than 15 metres below the beach surface. A final 8 kilometres of the pipeline end at a Pipeline Receiving Terminal (PRT), where the supervisory control centre for the entire pipeline operation is based, in the municipality of Melendugno.

The pipeline has a feature known as “physical reverse flow”, which allows for gas from Italy to reach South East Europe if energy supplies are disrupted, or more pipeline capacity is required. 

To allow for TAP’s capacity to be expanded to 20 billion cubic metres (bcm), two more compressor stations are needed, a new one near Serres in Greece and one at Bilisht in Albania, where TAP will convert the existing metering station into a compressor station, fitting additional turbo compressors. 

Along its route, TAP can facilitate connections to a number of existing and proposed pipelines. This design ensures the Southern Gas Corridor can open up supply to many different energy markets. This may also enable the future delivery of Caspian gas to destinations throughout South Eastern, Central and Western Europe.