TANAP natural gas pipeline via Georgia opens on June 12

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), a natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan passing through Georgia and Turkey to Europe, will be opened on June 12 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

Presidents of all three countries will attend the ceremony. President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili was invited to the ceremony by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The two presidents talked over the phone today.

Erdogan congratulated Margvelashvili on the 100th anniversary of the first Georgian Republic and invited him to the opening ceremony of the TANAP project to be held in Eskishehir, on June 12.

TANAP, a 1,850km pipeline, will travel through Georgia to better connect Europe with natural gas from the Caspian Sea as a way to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

Construction on the $10 billion TANAP project began in March 2015.

The first gas transportation via TANAP is planned for 2018. The 1,850km pipeline will deliver 10 bcm to Europe once it is connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) by 2020. By 2023 TANAP's capacity will rise to 23 bcm per year and then to 31 bcm by 2026.

TANAP will bring natural gas from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Europe, and from sources other than Russia. It is a central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which will connect the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe through the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and the TAP, which brings gas from western Turkey to Greece, Albania and across the Adriatic to Italy.