Turkish companies to supply 80 pct of TANAP pipes

ANKARA

AA Photo

A total of six Turkish companies have won the tender to supply 80 percent of the steel pipe demand of the 1,800 km-long TANAP pipeline that will carry Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey. Contracts for the supply of pipes for the construction of the TANAP were signed Oct. 14 with the attendance of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev, as well as representatives from winner companies.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan are complementing each other like the pieces of a puzzle. Some 80 percent of the steel pipes of the TANAP project will be supplied by Turkish companies. This project is not only an energy project, but also a peace project,” Davutoğlu said at the signing ceremony.

Under the agreements, some 30 percent of the steel pipes will be supplied by the consortiums comprising of Borusan Mannesman, Noksel and Erciyas, 25 percent by Ümran and Emek, and 25 percent by Tosçelik Profil. The remaining 20 percent of the steel pipe demand will be provided by Chinese Baosteel Europe, based in Germany.

“We are proud of the great success of Turkish steel producers, as they were selected from among 18 eligible companies after a highly competitive tender process,” said Yıldız at the signing ceremony.

Over 15,000 new jobs to be created

SOCAR’s Abdullayev noted the great significance of the TANAP in creating the Southern Gas Corridor. “Thanks to this project, Turkey will strengthen its upstream positioning, raise its tax income and enable local steel producers to gain more experience,” he said, adding that more than 15,000 new jobs would be created during the construction of the TANAP.

There will be four stages of the Southern Gas Corridor, which are estimated to cost around $45 billion, Yıldız noted. “The first phase is the pipeline from production fields to the Georgian border. The second phase is the pipeline in Georgia. The third is the TANAP, passing through Turkey to the Greek border.  The fourth is from Greece to Italy,” he added.

The TANAP project envisages gas transportation from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Europe through Turkey. The initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters per year. The construction of the 1,850-km-long TANAP is planned to be started in 2015 and completed in 2018 in three stages. The pipeline will then be connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The project cost is estimated at $10-11 billion.