SET Times: Energy projects expected to raise Turkey's importance for Europe
The European Commission revealed a number of energy projects that will require 5.8 billion euros of EU funding in the next seven years, including pipeline projects that will run through Turkey.
"Connecting the EU countries to Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, the Caspian region and North Africa is essential," European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger told reporters recently.
The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) plan is among the projects that got the nod for funding. The pipeline, announced in 2011, will carry Azerbaijan's vast Caspian Sea gas reserves to Europe through Turkey. The Azeri-Turkish consortium expects a $7 billion investment for the project.
"European support to TANAP will make it easier to finalise the final project. After all, the EU can reach alternative energy sources only through these kinds of projects," Mete Göknel, former head of Turkish state owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation, told SES Türkiye. "THE EU does not have a better alternative."