Energy
TAP Pipeline Adds 1.2 BCM in 2026 as Southern Gas Corridor Eyes 20 BCM Target
April 9, 2026
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The Trans Adriatic Pipeline — the European segment of the Southern Gas Corridor carrying Azerbaijani natural gas from the Turkish border to Italy — is implementing a 1.2 billion cubic metre (BCM) capacity expansion in 2026, a milestone that brings the corridor meaningfully closer to its target of doubling total throughput from the current 10 BCM to 20 BCM per year by 2027. The expansion is backed by the sustained European demand for diversified gas supplies and reflects the commercial logic of a system that has rapidly transitioned from a long-term infrastructure project into a strategically critical supply artery.
TAP, which stretches 878 kilometres from the Greek-Turkish border through northern Greece, Albania, and across the Adriatic Sea to the Italian region of Puglia, began commercial operations in late 2020. In its first full years of operation, it delivered gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 field to customers in Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria. European buyers' appetite for Azerbaijani gas has grown considerably since 2022, as the bloc implemented its REPowerEU strategy to replace Russian pipeline volumes.
The 1.2 BCM expansion — approved by TAP's shareholders in January 2024 and progressing through 2025 and into 2026 — involves modifications to compression infrastructure at multiple compressor stations along the pipeline route. Unlike some expansion scenarios that require new pipeline construction, this phase is achievable through engineering upgrades to existing facilities, making it both faster and more cost-efficient than a full greenfield capacity addition. Atlantic Council analysis notes that the corridor's full doubling to 20 BCM will require additional upstream investment at Shah Deniz and new pipeline compression beyond 2026.
The broader doubling target requires coordination across all three pipeline segments of the Southern Gas Corridor: the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) from Baku to the Turkish border, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) traversing Turkey, and TAP itself. BP and SOCAR have both confirmed that the Shah Deniz field expansion — a $2.9 billion investment programme — is designed to provide the additional gas volumes needed to fill the expanded corridor capacity as each segment comes online.
European energy policy analysts have emphasised the geopolitical value of the corridor's expansion. Azerbaijani gas now flows to Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy, with potential for extension to additional markets in the Western Balkans and Central Europe through interconnector projects currently in development. The ICGB interconnector linking Bulgaria to Greece has already expanded the corridor's effective market reach. Southern Gas Corridor OJSC confirmed that discussions with additional European offtakers for expanded volumes post-2027 are at an advanced stage.
For Azerbaijan and SOCAR, the TAP expansion represents a direct enhancement of export revenues. Azerbaijani gas is sold to European customers at prices tied to European hub benchmarks, which have remained elevated compared to pre-2022 levels, generating substantial cash flows for the Azerbaijani state budget.
The corridor's expansion is also enabling a strategic repositioning of Azerbaijan as a long-term European energy partner rather than merely a swing supplier. Senior EU energy officials have met with Azerbaijani counterparts multiple times in 2025 and early 2026 to discuss a long-term energy partnership framework that could extend supply commitments through 2040 and beyond, providing planning certainty for both parties.
With the 1.2 BCM 2026 expansion on track and Shah Deniz drilling progressing, analysts now assess the 20 BCM target by 2027 as achievable, subject to upstream production meeting planned ramp-up schedules.
