The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline's (TANAP) project is 70 percent complete with first gas to Turkey due for testing in January 2018, the project's general manager said on Friday.
Saltuk Duzyol, TANAP's general manager, in an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, said that Phase 0 of TANAP, which will carry Azeri gas to Turkey, is currently 80 percent complete.
Phase 0 starts from the Turkey-Georgia border and ends in Turkey's Eskisehir province where compressor stations for the project are being built. The second part of the project starts from Eskisehir and continues to the Ipsala district of Edirne on the Turkey-Greece border, where TANAP will be connected to Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the pipeline that will bring Azeri gas to European markets.
Duzyol confirmed that 45 percent of the Eskisehir to Europe section has been complete.
"Thus, when we look in total, we can say that TANAP is currently 70 percent complete. All works for Phase 0 will be completed by the end of this year. Then, the first test gas will be delivered into the pipeline, and first commercial gas will be pumped into the pipeline in June 2018," Duzyol explained.
He explained that dual pipelines, with 36 inches diameter, would be laid down for the sub-sea section of the project.
Malaysian energy company SapuraKencana was awarded the engineering works for the construction and procurement of the sub-sea section of the TANAP in July 2016.
The project's 17.6 kilometer-long sub-sea section out of a total pipeline length of 1,850 kilometers will pass through the Dardanelles.
The Malaysian company will bring a self-stabilizing vessel out to sea to construct the sub-sea section of the project, Duzyol said.
TANAP's initial capacity per year will be 16 billion cubic meters. Turkey will use 6 billion cubic meters of this amount while the remaining 10 billion cubic meters will be delivered to Europe.
Duzyol explained that the project is designed to handle 31 billion cubic meters in total, noting that 15 billion cubic meters more natural gas can be carried through TANAP should the need arise.
He also confirmed that TANAP would be ready to deliver gas to TAP by July 2019.
"The slump in global oil prices and low commodity prices also gives the TANAP project an opportunity to shrink its budget and save up to $3.2 billion. Initially, the investment budget for TANAP was estimated at $11.7 billion," Duzyol said.
TANAP's current cost is calculated as $8.5 billion, he concluded.
(Anadolu Agency)
