The €40 billion Trans Adriatic Pipeline bringing gas from Azerbaijan to Italy’s southern tip in 2020 has been temporarily halted because of opposition from the Puglia regional government and the city of Melendugno.
Puglia’s regional government has opposed the TAP landing point at San Foca, a seaside town with stunning beaches located near Melendugno on Puglia’s Adriatic coast.
As a result, the implementation of TAP pipeline has been put on hold despite having already being approved by the Court of Administrative Justice and the Ministry of Economic Development.
TAP’s shareholders are BP (20%), Socar (20%), Statoil (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagas (16%) e Axpo (5%). The Italian government said recently that the TAP pipeline is a strategic project because it’s an important way for Italy and Europe to diversify its gas supplies from Russia, a main supplier. The TAP pipeline has come into sharper focus after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s abrupt decision to cancel a planned pipeline bringing Russian gas to Southern Europe.
Puglia’s decision to oppose the pipeline’s arrival point at San Foca was expected. The regional government announced its opposition back in January, and was finally made official by a resolution that the regional government’s board approved at the start of December.
Now that the Region has opposed it, the project will face the next step required by standard infrastructure procedures: a team of experts will assess hypotheses for alternative locations.
The identification of new locations will not be easy. There are few issues that complicate the matter further.
First of all, since the pipeline is considered as a strategic project by both the EU and the Italian government, changing its location from San Foca would require to re-start the official authorization process, which would take another two years.
Since the end of August, the pipeline has passed the official Environmental Impact Assessment. The ministry has ordered 58 requirements in order to minimize environmental risks.
However, both Puglia’s regional government and Melendugno’s municipal government have raised concerns regarding the project’s environmental impact over worries that it may damage the marine ecosystem as the pipeline will come from the Adriatic Sea after crossing Greece and Albania.
Finally, clarity was made regarding the project’s liability towards “Seveso” guidelines, (a bill that regulates projects that deal with hazardous materials), as demanded by the regional government. Seveso guidelines do not apply to this project.
The next main development should come on January 28, when Lazio’s Regional Administrative Court will hear the TAP’s appeal to overturn Meledugno’s opposition to works in the areas affected by the passage of the pipeline.
