‘’The Southern Corridor conception will provide Georgia with significant political dividends and energy security,’’ Director-General of the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation Giorgi Bakhtadze told report.ge.
He says Georgia represented merely a transit country before the TANAP gas pipeline started operation, but currently, it is a player of international level.
In Bakhtadze’s words, the gas transited through Georgia will play an essential role in the EU power markets' diversification and improvement of the safe supply. As a result, Georgia will easily integrate into international progressive economic and political structures.
''The Southern Caucasus (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and TANAP pipelines, both located in Georgia, will ensure the Caspian gas supply to the Turkish and European markets. After the TANAP operation, the volume of gas, transited via the Southern Gas Corridor, namely, in the territory of Georgia, will gradually increase,'' Bakhtadze said.
As he says, after the TANAP started functioning, Georgia ensured the transition of gas, exceeding the contract-defined volume with 1,5 billion cubic meters (eight billion cubic meters in total) in 2018.
In 2019, the gas volume transited via Georgia was 2,7 billion more (9.2 billion cubic meters in total). As a result, in 2020, Georgia can enjoy a discount and buy additionally 75 million cubic meters of gas, and the volume will reach about 125 million cubic meters in 2021.
‘’To ensure the full functioning of the TANAP and Southern Gas Corridor, the Shah Deniz Consortium spent approximately two billion USD on improving the Southern Caucasus Gas Pipeline, and it was a significant investment in Georgia's economy. In particular, it meant the employment of about 2,000 people through the construction process, as they installed a new, 62-km-length pipeline, two new compressing stations and pressure regulation, and a measuring plant. A two-km bypass pipeline in the vicinity of the pumping station at the Turkish-Georgian border is also on the agenda,'' Bakhtadze remarked.
As Georgian official declares, Georgia will receive great benefits from the European Gas Corridor. He says the Southern Corridor Conception will provide Georgia with substantial political dividends as well.
‘’It will further develop the partnership and support Georgia’s integration in the Euro-Atlantic area,’’ he said, adding that the benefit is mutual, as Georgia, as a stable and sustainable country, is of critical importance to Europe.
‘’For Europe, it is significant to see that energy flows to its market are free from political and other risks,’’ Bakhtadze declares, adding that for this reason, the Southern Energy Hub conception was developed (as an alternative to the Russian gas).
‘’Naturally, similar large-scale projects envisage strategic partnership between the involved countries, which is an important factor for the approximation of Georgia and the EU,’’ Oil and Gas Corporation Director Bakhtadze says.
Currently, Georgia receives 300 million cubic meters of free gas, for being a transit country. The volume will reach 1.5 million cubic meters by 2026.
Georgia will receive more natural gas by 2023 in exchange for the TANAP operation. The volume of natural gas received for free will be four times more, reaching 1.15 billion cubic meters.
Bela Gelashvili
News Author