BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) goes beyond the Southern Gas Corridor, Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Kestutis Jankauskas told Trend.
There are other, smaller, but very important ongoing projects, he noted.
Returning to the Southern Gas Corridor project, Jankauskas said it will physically connect Azerbaijan and the European Union.
“It is a landmark project bringing mutual benefits for Azerbaijan and the EU: for Azerbaijan it will mean predictable and stable income from European customers; for the European Union, it means a new supply route from a new source, which leads to diversification and more choices, thus more competition and affordable prices for the consumers,” he said.
Jankauskas recalled that in 2019, the crucial connection of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was inaugurated at the Turkish-Greek border.
“In 2020, we expect to see TAP fully completed. The year 2020 will mark the beginning of the SGC, not the end. There are prospects for further strengthening our energy cooperation with IGB (Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria) and a possible extension of the pipeline to the West Balkans. More demand would mean more supply for SGC which could come from the Caspian fields in Azerbaijan and possibly Turkmenistan,” he said.
The Southern Gas Corridor project aims to increase and diversify European energy supply by bringing gas resources from the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe.
The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field (“SD1” project) and its full-field development (“SD2'” project), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline (“SCP” project) and its expansion (“SCPX” project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (“TANAP” project) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (“TAP” project) (SD2, SCPX, TANAP and TAP collectively, the “Projects”).
The Projects have an estimated investment cost of approximately $40 billion. Upon completion, the SD2 project will add a further 16 bcm of natural gas per annum to 10.9 bcma (maximum production capacity) already produced under SD1 project.
Total length of the newly constructed SCPX, TANAP and TAP pipelines will be more than 3,200 kilometres.
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