Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made groundbreaking ceremony of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Project (TANAP) project
The groundbreaking ceremony was held in the eastern province of Kars for the $10 billion Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Project (TANAP) project to transfer Azeri gas to Western markets, in line with a plan which could help the EU reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
The initial capacity of TANAP is expected yearly 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea, one of the world’s largest gas fields, and the capacity will be gradually increased to 31 bcm. Around 6 bcm of gas will be delivered to Turkey, while the rest will be supplied to Europe. The gas will reach Turkey by 2018, and after the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) it will reach Europe by early 2020. By 2023, TANAP’s capacity will rise to 23 bcm per year and then to 31 bcm by 2026, according to the statement. Ankara raised its stake in the project to 30 percent last year. Azeri state-oil firm SOCAR holds 58 percent, while BP has the remaining 12 percent.
We plan to establish Turkey as the energy distribution hub of the region,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “TANAP has a special importance because of its route and its goal. It is not an alternative project to others; there is no alternative to it,” Turkish President Erdogan noted. As for Taner Yildiz, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, in his speech said, “TANAP has faced many political and economic obstacles throughout its development; however Turkey will always fully support the project.” The project was announced on 17 November, 2011 at the Third Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Istanbul. In December 2011, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a consortium to build and operate the pipeline.
In spring 2012, the process of conducting the technical economic feasibility study was launched. In June 2012, Aliyev and Erdogan, who was prime minister at that time, signed a binding intergovernmental agreement on the pipeline. In November 2014, Turkmenistan signed an outline deal with Turkey to supply gas to a new pipeline that could help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports. Azerbaijani natural gas passing through Georgia gets into the pipeline under construction, which will have its roots in Selim region of Kars, from there through Ipsala district of Edirne will go to Greece and then to Italy and then to Europe. The total length of the pipeline is 1,841 km. The project cost about 10 billion dollars. Pipeline will be commissioned in 2018; in 2026 the capacity will reach by 31 billion cubic meters of blue fuel to flow through the pipeline. Ankara and Baku also struck a so-called framework agreement on for Turkmenistan, which is keen to diversify exports of its gas to world markets
The groundbreaking ceremony was kicked off for the TANAP project with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the eastern province of Kar