Gas pipeline between Azerbaijan and Turkey will be operational in June

After several tests of operation, the gas pipeline will introduce 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.

The Transanatolia Natural Gas (TANAP) Conduction, which will link the Azeri deposits of the Caspian Sea with Turkey, will enter into operation on June 30.

The general manager of TANAP, Saltuk Düzyol, said that the project is 93.5 percent finished and will join the border with Georgia, in the Turkish province of Ardahan, with connections from Greece and Bulgaria, in the Turkish northwest.

After several tests of operation, the gas pipeline will introduce 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year into the Turkish national grid, and from 2020 it will connect to other European networks, which will be transferred 16 billion cubic meters per year, an amount that will gradually increase to 31 billion.

TANAP will receive the flow of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) and the Southern Gas pipeline of the Caucasus (SCP), which cross Azerbaijan and Georgia respectively, and will facilitate the supply to Europe through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will pass through from Greece and Albania to Italy, crossing the Adriatic Sea.

In addition, Düzyol said that "if the host government makes the necessary adjustments, it is possible to include natural gas from Iraq and the eastern Mediterranean in the pipeline system in the future."

He added that at the moment no underground storage facility is planned, but that 'they can be considered again in the years to come, in terms of guaranteeing the continuity in the supply of natural gas'.

Regarding the cost of the project, TANAP said that of the USD 11 thousand 766 million budgeted, finally, it was possible to reduce the bill to USD 8 billion, thanks to the beneficial current conditions of the international market in the construction sector.