2024-04-06 23:02:24
Albania plans to start using Azerbaijani natural gas for its own needs in 2026.
As Day.Az reports with reference to the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings, for this purpose, plans are being developed to develop the necessary gas distribution infrastructure.
“Through existing infrastructure, such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Albania is diversifying its energy sources and reducing its dependence on hydropower. TAP’s primary role in Albania is to facilitate the transit of gas from Azerbaijan to European markets, including Italy,” S&P notes.
Annual supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Albania are expected in the amount of about 200 million cubic meters. This will therefore coincide with the period of the first stage of the expansion of the Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline to an additional 1.2 billion cubic meters, of which 1 billion cubic meters are destined for Italy.
Thus, Albania will be the ninth buyer of natural gas from Azerbaijan after Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Turkey, Hungary and Serbia. At the same time, there is another group of countries that want to buy gas from Azerbaijan. These are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovakia and North Macedonia.
Let us remind you that TAP began commercial deliveries at the end of 2020.
At the end of 2023, Azerbaijan supplied 11.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe.
In July 2022, Azerbaijan and the European Commission signed a memorandum that provides for increasing the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor from the current 10 billion cubic meters per year to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027. TAP will begin supplying an additional 1.2 billion cubic meters per year from 2026.
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