BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.1
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Сonstruction works in Southern Gas Corridor projects, which envisage transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, are almost completed, Trend reports citing the data released by the Council of the European Union.
“A number of key projects of common interest (PCIs) are currently in an advanced stage of implementation, in particular in the region that was most affected by past gas crises: the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Krk in Croatia, the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRUA) pipeline corridor, the gas interconnector between Poland and Lithuania (GIPL), the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) and others. These projects will help vulnerable countries to diversify their gas supply and give them access to three sources of gas,” said the organization.
In the Southern Gas Corridor PCIs will allow the EU energy market to connect to new sources of gas in the Caspian region, Central Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. In particular the integrated system of gas pipelines including a trans-Caspian pipeline (between the shores of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan), the expansion of South-Caucasus Pipeline (linking Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey), Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (east-west across Turkey) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (stretching from the Greek-Turkish border, across Albania to Italy) will give the EU access to natural gas from the fields in the gas-rich Caspian Sea region, reads the data.
The construction works are almost complete and the first gas from Azerbaijan will reach the EU in 2020, said the Council of the European Union.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the SGC was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in Turkey’s Eskisehir city.
The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the SGC - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) were connected on the Turkish-Greek border.
IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.
The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.
The interconnector between Romania and Bulgaria, as well as the BRUA project, will ensure the integration of natural gas sources from the Caspian and Mediterranean basins, the Middle East or Central Asia, with the markets in Central and Western Europe. Romanian government has approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy, Transgaz and the Southern Gas Corridor Consultative Council on the potential of cooperation in the use of gas transport infrastructure offered by the Romania-Bulgaria Interconnector and Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria pipeline (BRUA) in the forthcoming enlargement stages of the Southern Gas Corridor in the Balkans and Central Europe.
Trans-Caspian Pipeline envisages transportation of Turkmen gas to Europe through Azerbaijan.
Turkmenistan is studying the possibility of bringing its energy products to the European market. To this end, a 300-kilometer gas pipeline will have to be laid along the Caspian seabed to the shores of Azerbaijan.
Turkmenistan has declared its readiness to supply Europe with an annual volume of up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas.
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