Turkish president Recip Tayip Erdogan has described the newly built Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) as a peace project. Erdogan was speaking on Saturday (30 November) at a ceremony in Turkey's border province of Edirne, from where the pipeline will now connect to other countries in Europe.
"Here, we witness a historic moment. I must stress that this is a project for peace as much as it is a regional project. We finalized TANAP, as planned, despite all the events and tensions. We put this richness into the service of our citizens and all humanity", the Turkish president said at the ceremony which was also attended by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Bulgaria, and the Energy Minister of Greece. Erdogan highlighted the contribution that TANAP will make for the energy security of the countries of Southern Europe, once the Southern Gas Corridor is completed.
TANAP - a 1,850-kilometer-long pipeline through Turkey, foresees carrying gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field, as part of the Southern Gas Corridor. It also includes the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) extension through Georgia and the TAP to Greece, Albania and Italy.
The pipeline's entrance to Turkey starts with the eastern Ardahan province, bordering Georgia. It passes through 20 provinces and 67 districts of Turkey, ending in Edirne's İpsala.
Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz I field has been pumping gas since 2006, selling it to the neighboring Georgia and Turkey, while output from Shah Deniz II is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year by 2021, with 10 bcm earmarked for Europe and 6 bcm for Turkey.
Parts of the corridor in Georgia and Turkey are completed and the first commercial deliveries of gas from Shah Deniz II to Turkey began in July 2018, although the TAP project has faced delays to construction due to environmental issues. TAP also includes Britain's BP, Italy's Snam and Spain's Enagas.
TANAP's shareholders are Azerbaijan's energy company SOCAR, with a 51 percent share, followed by Turkey's BOTAŞ, with a 30 percent share. BP and SOCAR Turkey are the other two shareholders of the project.
The total investment in the project amount to almost $6.5 billion, although the total cost of the entire Southern Gas Corridor is much higher at $40 billion.
The Turkish and Azerbaijani governments gave the start to the project with an agreement signed on 26 June 2012.
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: Leaders of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia were among those attending a ceremony marking the completion of the Trans Anatolian Pipeline, held in the Turkish province of Edirne on 30 November 2019 (picture courtesy of the press service of the prime minister of Georgia).
