Turkey wants to early finish TANAP project
With its vital role in the overall objective of diversifying energy supplies to Europe, Turkey spares no effort to realize the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), backbone pipe forming the ambitious Southern Gas Corridor project.
With its vital role in the overall objective of diversifying energy supplies to Europe, Turkey spares no effort to realize the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), backbone pipe forming the ambitious Southern Gas Corridor project.
Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral said that the country will try to finish the implementation of TANAP ahead of schedule. Speaking at the meeting with Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev in Baku on December 13 the envoy said that Turkey plans to intensify energy cooperation with Azerbaijan.
“We are proud that Azerbaijan is the largest foreign investor in Turkey. In turn, Turkey is interested in the enhancement of its participation in the new stage of Azerbaijan’s economic development,” he said.
Minister Aliyev said that cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan is based on the friendly and fraternal relations and is at a high level in all directions, adding that such joint projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and the TANAP show that ensuring the region’s energy security is impossible without the participation of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Progress on the implementation of TANAP project is currently on track. Saltuk Duzyol, head of TANAP consortium earlier said that the construction process is completed by almost 55 percent, mentioning that some 19 underground passages have so far been built as part of the project.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The project also receives strong support from a number of international financial organizations.
The project is expected to get financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the World Bank (WB), European Investment Bank (EIB), and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Moreover, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $1 billion in private and public sector assistance to expand Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II. The assistance comprises a $500 million private sector loan to the Southern Gas Corridor closed joint stock company.
The length of TANAP is 1,800 kilometers with the initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters. The first gas via TANAP is expected to be delivered to Turkey’s BOTAS company in June 2018 and to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the border with Greece in June 2019. TANAP shareholders are Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR (58 percent), BOTAS (30 percent) and BP (12 percent).