World Bank signs $400 mln finance deal with Turkey’s BOTAŞ for TANAP

ANKARA

The World Bank and Turkey’s gas grid BOTAŞ signed a $400 million financing deal on Feb. 8 for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, which will carry gas from a gas field in Azerbaijan across Turkey and further on to Europe.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $400 million loan for Turkey and a $400 million loan for Azerbaijan for the project late in 2016. The signatures for the Turkish part were inked in Ankara. 

“On the road to pumping to first gas in the framework of TANAP in 2018, we are here to sign a key $400 million financing deal with the World Bank today. This agreement also has great significance for the Turkish economy, as well as global energy markets. I want to give other good news for the markets. Our energy team is working on a financing package worth $3 billion in 2017 not only with the World Bank, but also with other international finance institutions for energy projects,” Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said at the ceremony, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. 

He also said the first gas would be pumped from Turkey’s Tuz Lake gas storage facilities on Feb. 10 in an official ceremony in the presence of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, adding that Turkey continued to be a key player in supporting and taking part in a number of crucial projects to fuel energy diversification. 

The World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia vice president, Cyril Muller, said a further $2.4 billion in loan support would be offered to the TANAP project from other international financial institutions in addition to the World Bank’s support. 

Noting that the intense works to complete the project financing had been continuing for 15 months, Muller said, “In addition to the World Bank’s financing support, $2.4 billion worth in loan support will be provided for the project by [others].” 

BOTAŞ General Manager Burhan Özcan said some 65 percent of the TANAP project was completed, adding that the loans provided for the project would be payment-free over the next five years and would be repaid in 19 years.  

The TANAP project is part of the Southern Gas Corridor Program, which, in addition to TANAP, includes the development of the Shah Deniz II gas field in Azerbaijan; an expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline across Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey; and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will carry the gas through Greece and Albania and under the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy. 

The project is slated to come online in 2018 with an initial capacity to carry 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Azeri gas through Georgia to Turkey. While 6 bcm will be for Turkey’s domestic consumption, the rest is destined for transfer to Greece, Albania, Italy and further into Europe.