The Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Project (TANAP) will deliver 6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Turkey by June 30 this year, which marks the pipeline’s second year of commercial operations, TANAP's General Manager Saltuk Duzyol told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency on the second anniversary of TANAP's official launch on June 12, Duzyol stated that TANAP's gas deliveries to Turkey have incrementally increased from the first year when it initially delivered 2 bcm.
According to Duzyol, TANAP is a significant symbol of successful cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, with the official launch ceremony on June 12, 2018, presided over by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
The project is also the most important part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which has a strategic value for the European Union and global energy geopolitics, Duzyol said.
"With a length of 1,850 kilometers, TANAP is the longest and biggest full-scale natural gas project in the Middle East and Europe," he said.
The $40 billion Southern Gas Corridor project includes the Shah Deniz - 2 field, South Caucasus Pipeline and TANAP. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania and Italy are countries that are involved in the 3,500-kilometer-long project.
TANAP, with investments of over $7 billion, is the largest section of the Southern Gas Corridor project. The pipeline stretches from the Turkish-Georgian border to the Turkish-Greek border to supply natural gas to both Turkey and to European countries.
A total of 16 bcm of gas will be delivered through the project out of which TANAP will deliver 6 bcm to Turkey while transferring 10 bcm via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the Turkey-Greece border. The delivery capacity of the TANAP is projected to expand to 24-31 bcm over time.
Duzyol explained that TANAP is a new source of supply for Turkey while also creating supply and route diversity. Azerbaijan will now become Turkey’s second-biggest gas supplier after Russia with gas flow through TANAP and a new supplier for EU countries.
"The project will contribute to the energy security of these countries and increase gas-to-gas competition,” he said.
It will also allow Azerbaijan, for the first time, to export its gas to Europe, which Duzyol said would increase the country's revenues and also develop its relations with the European Union.
- TANAP aims to supply Europe as soon as possible
TANAP connects with the 878-kilometer-long TAP at the Turkish-Greek border in Kipoi, which then crosses Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
The completion of the TANAP section from Eskisehir to the Turkish-Greek border on July 1 last year ensures that TANAP is ready to deliver gas to Europe, but this cannot go ahead without first completing TAP.
However, there is good progress made with this, according to Duzyol.
"TAP's territorial part is largely complete and we have delivered 21.4 million cubic meters of natural gas to TAP for testing," he said.
He added that TAP officials announced the completion of the 105-kilometer-long offshore section of the pipeline under the Adriatic Sea on June 9. Approximately 9,000 pipes were laid at depths of approximately 810 meters below sea level.
He said they will increase gas volumes to TAP in line with the demands of the project with the aim of starting commercial gas flows as soon as possible after testing and commissioning studies are completed.
(Anadolu Agency, June 11, 2020)
