The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report has been approved by Turkey for the subsea section of TurkStream which is an alternative to the West Line that will cease to operate in 2019. Thus, another obstacle to the project has been removed.
TurkStream will provide both Turkey's own energy supply security and Europe’s supply security through Turkey. This clearly means that while Turkey boosts its own energy supply security, it will also strengthen its strategic position between energy supplying and demanding countries in the region.
On the other hand, the TurkStream project is of particular importance for Russia which has strong economic relations with Turkey in the new period.
Through the project, Russia will be able to continue to export natural gas to both Turkey, one of its biggest importers, and EU countries, which have the highest natural gas demand globally.
Russia is aware that having energy resources alone is not enough. Therefore, it is working meticulously on the energy demand security through TurkStream.
The parties’ agreement on the completion of the TurkStream and Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant projects on schedule, which was also discussed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Turkey, is also an important indicator for future energy cooperation.
What is the capacity of the TurkStream project?
When we look at the features of TurkStream, we can once again see the importance of the project. TurkStream consists of two separate lines, each with an annual natural gas capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters. The project has pipelines consisting of two subsea sections and two land sections planned to be extended from the Russian territory to Turkey and EU countries under the Black Sea.
With the launching of TurkStream, which will provide a safe, convenient and effective transportation method for transferring natural gas from the source point to the consumption point, the project will transfer 31.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. In other words, TurkStream will provide strong support for energy supply security for both Turkey and countries in the region.
Geographical position renders Turkey indispensable
In many articles, I have been expressing the gains that Turkey’s advantageous geographical position brings, especially in the field of energy. These gains allow Turkey to meet its own energy needs from different sources and countries, and also further highlights Turkey in terms of the energy supply security of European countries.
So, although the EU countries do not like it, Turkey’s geographical position will make the country indispensable for them.
Turkey is determined to capitalize on its proximity to the countries that hold two-third of the world's total oil and natural gas reserves. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that Turkey has the potential to change the dynamics of the regional and global energy equation through the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and TurkStream projects that it is actualizing in cooperation with countries that have energy resources.
In addition to these big projects that are being actualized, many countries with energy resources are willing to carry out new projects through Turkey. Naturally, a competitive environment will emerge in this area – which will add strength to Turkey's strong position in energy project negotiations.
Of course, we must speed up the moves that will strengthen Turkey in energy. If we want to be both a strategic country and a trade center in the energy field, we should also increase the number of LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals, increase the capacity of natural gas storage stations besides natural gas and oil pipeline projects, and most importantly, continue to take firm steps to be an energy trade center by expanding the sphere of influence of the energy stock market.
