Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

U.S-EU Energy Council emphasizes significance of SGC

5 May 2016 12:40 (UTC+04:00)
U.S-EU Energy Council emphasizes significance of SGC

By Fatma Babayeva

The U.S.- EU Energy Council restated its support for the commissioning of the Southern Gas Corridor including the construction of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.

In its statement about the results on its seventh meeting held in Washington D.C. on May 4, the Council stressed the importance of the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector. It also also voiced a support to the construction of the LNG terminals in Croatia, as well as, in Greece if there is a demand in the market.

During the meeting, John Kerry drew the attention to the threat posed by the Nord Stream 2 to the Western Europe as well.

The Council’s meeting was co-hosted by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. Participants from the European side were the Vice President and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the Vice President of the EU for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, the Commissioner of the European Union for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete and the Minister for the Environment of the Netherlands Sharon Dijksma.

The SGC pipeline network aims to improve the energy security of the EU and diversity its energy supply routes by bringing natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe.

The SGC is included in the EU priority energy projects. It envisages the transportation of more than 10 billion cubic meters of gas extracted at the giant Shah Deniz 2 field located in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea. The pipeline network will stretch across 3,500 kilometer area from the Caspian Sea into Europe.

At the initial stage, the gas will be produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field as part of development of the Stage 2 which is considered as the main source for the SGC project.

However, there is a need to upgrade existing infrastructure and develop a chain of new pipelines in order to achieve full implementation of the project.

Existing South Caucasus pipeline will be expanded with a new parallel pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia. Construction of Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic pipelines are main elements of this project.

TANAP will pass through Turkey and join to TAP pipeline in the Greece border. TAP will pass through Greece, Albania and southern part of Italy.

Some 480 kilometers of pipes were welded as part of the TANAP construction whose total length will be 1,334 kilometers.

First gas delivery to Georgia and Turkey is scheduled for late 2018. Gas deliveries to Europe are expected a year after the first gas is produced in offshore fields of Azerbaijan.

In addition, TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year which will be expandable up to 20 billion cubic meters a year. Its construction will start in May 2016.

The SGC is one of the biggest construction projects of our times with a value of $45 billion.

It is a win-win project for all participants which will bring the Caucasian region closer to the Europe.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more