By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which is the largest component of the Southern Gas Corridor, has been connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the banks of the Merich River on the Turkish-Greek border, Turkish media outlets reported.

A connection of two gas pipelines was an important step towards the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project, as reported by the TANAP and TAP consortia.

Azerbaijani gas from the second stage of development of the Shah Deniz field will be pumped to Europe, according to TAP.

The welding of TANAP and TAP pipes was supervised by representatives of two consortia.

The total length of TANAP is 1,850 kilometers. TANAP originates in the village of Turkgozu in the province of Ardahan, in the border zone between Turkey and Georgia, crosses 20 Turkish provinces and 67 settlements and stretches to Ipsala in the province of Edirne, where it is connected to TAP.

The initial capacity of the TANAP pipeline is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. About six billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to Turkey, and the rest to Europe. The project's shareholders are Southern Gas Corridor CJSC (51 percent), STEAŞ (7 percent), BOTAŞ (30 percent), BP (12 percent).

TANAP, also called the “Energy Silk Road”, was a historic step towards turning Turkey into an energy hub.

TANAP and TAP are the parts of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is intended to deliver gas from the Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz to Europe.

On May 29, Baku hosted the launch ceremony of the first phase of the Southern Gas Corridor project, and on June 12, the opening ceremony of TANAP pipeline was held in the Turkish province of Eskisehir with the participation of the presidents of Azerbaijan - Ilham Aliyev, Turkey - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukraine - Petro Poroshenko and Serbia - Alexander Vucic.

TANAP shareholders are Southern Gas Corridor CJSC (51 percent), STEAŞ (7 percent), BOTAŞ (30 percent), BP (12 percent).

TAP, along with TANAP, is a part of Southern Gas Corridor project. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 gas field to Greece and southern Italy across the Adriatic Sea through Greece and Albania, and involves designing, construction and operation of the natural gas pipeline.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on the TAP project was signed by Albania, Italy and Greece in February 2013. The cost of the project is 4.5 billion euros.

The TAP project is one of the strategic objectives of the EU in the energy security and diversification of energy sources, chosen as the shortest and direct way to export natural gas from Azerbaijan to the European markets.

Construction of nearly 74.6 percent of the 878 km pipeline has been completed, of which 550 kilometers will pass through the northern part of Greece, 215 kilometers - Albania, 105 kilometers - the Adriatic Sea and 8 kilometers - Italy. The TAP pipeline is expected to be commissioned in 2020. The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility of doubling it.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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