The two key projects supplying Russian and Azerbaijani gas to Türkiye and eventually to Europe, the TurkStream and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) have shipped some 97.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to date.
Launched in January 2020, TurkStream has so far transited 26.75 bcm of gas to Türkiye and 30.55 bcm to Europe, data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) revealed Friday. In 2022 alone, the figure stood at 8.6 bcm and 12.5 bcm for Türkiye and Europe, respectively.
The pipeline allows Moscow to bypass Ukraine as a transit route to Europe and supplies Russian gas to Southern Europe through the Black Sea and Türkiye.
TurkStream consists of two 930-kilometer (578-mile) offshore lines stretching from Russia to Türkiye across the Black Sea, and two separate onshore lines at lengths of 142 kilometers and 70 kilometers.
With a total capacity of 31.5 bcm, TurkStream was first announced during the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Türkiye in December 2014.
The first line with a capacity of 15.75 bcm is designated for supplies to Türkiye’s domestic customers. The downlink to Türkiye supplies gas to several European countries, including Serbia and Hungary.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin in October last year floated the idea of setting up a gas hub in Türkiye following mystery explosions that damaged Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.
TANAP expansion underway
Launched in mid-2018, TANAP is dubbed as the backbone and comprises the longest stretch of the $40 billion multinational Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), a series of pipelines that supply gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field to Europe.
TANAP supplied 5.8 bcm of gas last year to Türkiye, while Europe received 11.3 bcm. Since the pipeline commenced operations, a total of 20.5 bcm of gas has been transported to Türkiye and 19.5 bcm to Europe.
The $6.5 billion pipeline crosses the breadth of Türkiye, east to west, and can transport up to 16 bcm of Azerbaijani gas a year. Europe is allocated 10 bcm, with 6 bcm earmarked for the Turkish market.
It originates at the Georgian-Turkish border, travels 1,811 kilometers through 20 provinces, and connects to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) at the Greek border, transferring gas to Greece, Albania and Italy.
Work on pipeline expansion is currently underway to increase its capacity to its maximum, which was originally designed to deliver 32 bcm.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez in October last year said they expected to double the current annual transmission capacity to 32 bcm "in the short term."
TANAP aims to diversify gas supplies to Europe and reduce countries’ dependence on Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine fueled a major energy crisis.
Russia has reduced or cut off natural gas supplies to many nations as European governments bolstered their support for Ukraine in the form of weapons, money, aid and sanctions on Moscow.
The first gas through TANAP’s Türkiye leg stretching from the Georgia-Türkiye border to the exit point in Eskişehir was transported in late June 2018. The first shipment through the European leg from Eskişehir to the Türkiye-Greece border reached Europe in December 2020.