EBRD’s loan will fund the completion of the 1,850km-long pipeline that will pass through Turkey. The pipeline will form the key part of the $40bn Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project.
Apart from TANAP, SGC also features the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) in Azerbaijan and Georgia and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that would pass through Greece, Albania and Italy.
The initial capacity of the 3,500km long SGC pipeline system will be up to 16 billion cubic metres, which will be adequate to meet the annual energy consumption of over 10 million households in Europe.
First gas from SGC is anticipated in late 2018, which will be delivered to Georgia and Turkey. Gas deliveries to other parts of Europe are likely to take over a year after first gas is produced offshore Azerbaijan.
Through the TANAP project, natural gas produced from the Shah Deniz-2 offshore gas field and other areas of the Caspian Sea is delivered mainly to Turkey and other parts of Europe.
The project is aimed at securing natural gas supply to European markets. It will also help Turkey meet the increasing demand for natural gas and contribute to the country’s socio-economic development.
Last year, The World Bank had granted a loan of $800m for the development of TANAP which is slated to be commissioned in 2018. TANAP will connect to both TAP and the SCP pipelines.
The pipeline is jointly owned by Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company Socar (58%), Turkish oil and gas group Botas (30%) and BP (12%).
Image: Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) running through Turkey will form part of the Southern Gas Corridor. Photo: courtesy of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
