Minister Petkova: Bulgarian interconnectors with Greece and with Turkey are an integral part of the Southern Gas Corridor infrastructure
"Bulgarian interconnectors with Greece and with Turkey are an integral part of the Southern Gas Corridor infrastructure. They will provide security and diversification of routes and supply of natural gas for both Bulgaria and the whole South-East European region", Bulgarian Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova said after the groundbreaking ceremony of TANAP, which was held in Selim, Kars. The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, Vice-President of EC Maroš Šefčovič, President of SOCAR and of the Board of Directors of TANAP Rovnag Abdullayev, Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Republic Natig Aliyev, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız also took part in the ceremony.
According to Temenuzhka Petkova the Ministry of Energy continues its active work on the realization of Bulgaria-Greece interconnector that will link Bulgaria to the Southern Gas Corridor. She emphasized that Bulgarian government considers the completion of the interconnectors with its neighbor countries as a priority in the energy sector. Petkova gave as an example the ongoing intensive talks of the joint working group between Bulgaria and Turkey on the feasibility study of the Turkey-Bulgaria interconnector, which is another way to connect our country to the Southern Gas Corridor.
Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is a key part of the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline is planned to be 1850 km long and to cross the territory of Turkey from the Georgian-Turkish border to the Turkish-Greek border. The pipeline is expected to be completed in 2018 and start transmitting gas with initial capacity of 16 bcm/year. In 2023 its capacity is projected to be 24 bcm/year and in 2026- to reach the maximum of 31 bcm/year. From 2020 onwards 10 bcm/year gas from the Azeri gas field Shah Deniz II will be transited to Europe. This volume also includes the agreed 1 bcm/year for Bulgaria.
The Southern Gas Corridor includes the South-Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP. TANAP will be connected to TAP that passes through the territories of Greece, Albania to Italy.