Hungary seeks gas future with Turkish Stream and TANAP

By Nuran Erkul

ANKARA 

Hungary, which aims to secure its natural gas supplies, wants to be included both in Turkish Stream and the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency earlier this week, Hungarian energy minister Andrss Aradszki said: "Hungary welcomes all developments on TANAP, as it represents a breakthrough in the connection of the Caspian with European regions."

Hungary meets 80 percent of its natural gas demand from Russia via Ukraine. At the time of the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine which represented the third time Moscow had done so in the last decade.

Hungary was one of the few countries who supported Russia's South Stream Project even though European Union opposed it.

However, in early December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin scrapped the South Stream pipeline planned to carry Russian gas to Europe via Bulgaria.

Instead, Putin proposed a new project; the Turkish Stream.

The new gas pipeline with 63 billion cubic meters of annual capacity will run across the Black Sea from the Russkaya CS near Anapa to Kiyikoy village in the European part of Turkey and further via Luleburgaz to Ipsala on the border between Turkey and Greece.

The offshore gas pipeline will consist of four strings with the capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each. All the gas from the first string will be moved solely to the Turkish market.

The pipeline will carry the remaining capacity to Europe although it is still not certain which countries will be included in the route.

During Putin's official visit to Hungary in February 2015, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban confirmed that Budapest was interested in Turkish Stream and that participation in it would strengthen Turkey-Hungary relations.

It will be a good investment if Turkish Stream comes through Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary, Orban said.

Likewise, Hungary wants to benefit from TANAP.

With an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters, TANAP is planned to originate from the Georgia-Turkey border to pass through Anatolia, extending 2,000 kilometers.

Its capacity is planned to increase to 23 billion cubic meters by 2023 and to 31 billion cubic meters by 2026. The European part will be complemented with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which will extend the flow of Caspian gas to European continent.