Gas storage facility in Marmara Sea to be completed soon

Fatma Aksu-ISTANBUL

Works are underway to build a facility in the Marmara Sea, which will be capable of storing 4.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

The Northern Marmara Natural Gas Storage Extension Project, which is being carried out jointly by Turkish companies Kolin and Kalyon, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023, with the first gas to be pumped toward the end of this year.

The new facility will help Türkiye pass this winter without any problems at a time when the energy crisis, triggered by the war in Ukraine, is gripping countries across Europe.

“When undersea work is completed, the facility will store natural gas equivalent to around 10 percent of Türkiye’s annual consumption. This means meeting around 5 million homes’ consumption,” said Mehmet Kalyoncu, the president of Kalyon İnşaat.

Türkiye’s natural gas consumption increased more than 24 percent last year from 2020 to 59.6 billion cubic meters, with imports rising 22 percent to 58.7 billion cubic meters.

State-owned energy company TPAO conducted drills to produce natural gas off the shore of the Silivri district back in the 1980s and then left the area. Later seismic studies were launched to see if a natural gas storage facility could be built at the very same location. A joint venture between Kolin and Kalyon is now developing the massive storage facility there.

“This will serve as a strategic facility that will be used in the event of a sudden cut in natural gas supplies or wars. Such structures allow countries to buy natural gas when prices are cheap and store and make the gas available for consumption when prices go up. It is a project which will improve supply security,” Kalyoncu said.