BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.8
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Southern Gas Corridor by increasing the share of gas from new, in this case Azerbaijani sources, on European gas market, reduces the dependence on dominant supplier of Southern Europe, Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment told Trend.
“Poland has had a positive opinion on Southern Gas Corridor from the very beginning of discussions regarding this initiative. From our perspective, each new source of gas supply to the EU promotes competitiveness and diversification, therefore contributes to energy security among others by helping to prevent or mitigate crisis situations,” said the ministry.
Starting commercial operations of Southern Gas Corridor is therefore a great success of Azerbaijan and its company SOCAR, according to the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment.
The Southern Gas Corridor, which is comprised of Shah Deniz 2, the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion, the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) became fully operational on December 31, 2020.
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG confirmed on Dec. 31, 2020 the commencement of gas flows from Azerbaijan. The first gas has reached Greece and Bulgaria, via the Nea Mesimvria interconnection point with DESFA, as well as Italy, via the Melendugno interconnection point with SNAM Rete Gas (SRG).
TAP has to date transported 5 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. TAP’s total capacity is 10 billion cubic meters with possibility of expansion to 20 billion cubic meters per year. TAP is designed to supply 8 billion cubic meters of gas to Italy and 1 billion cubic meters to Greece and Bulgaria each.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn