Ankara, April 19 - Neftegaz.RU. According to the Turkish Hurriyet, the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) will start to operate at the end of June 2018, General Manager Saltuk Düzyol said.
«We have planned to open the valve on June 30 to start the commercial gas flow. In total, 93.5 % of the project is completed,» said Düzyol at the compressor station in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, the main unloading point of natural gas in Turkey.
Some «99.9 % of the landline part of the project is completed. We have reached a realization rate of 80.7 % in the Phase-1 part, which will extend to Europe,» Düzyol added.
The 1,841-kilometer pipeline was planned to cost $11.7 billion but was decreased to $7.99 billion, he said. The European Union has granted $10.2 million for the project.
The TANAP is projected to double the amount of natural gas exported from Azerbaijan to Turkey. Turkey imports 6.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Azerbaijan annually.
The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion bcm of gas per year, gradually increasing to 31 bcm. Around 6 bcm of gas will be delivered to Turkey, and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe.
After completion, gas through the TAP will reach Europe by early 2020.
