Energy in Turkey

An explosion has hit the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars-Erzurum gas pipeline in eastern Turkey, a provincial governor has told Anadolu Agency.

Günay Özdemir, the governor of northeastern Kars province, said the blast happened in the early hours of Aug. 4 at a section of the pipeline located in the Sar?kam?? district. Gas flow was cut in nearby Ya?basan village for safety reasons.

Russia may see its ambition to carry gas to Europe via the future Turkish Stream pipeline thwarted with the EU determined to cut its energy reliance on Russia and Turkey seeking big discounts for Russian gas in exchange for participating in the project, Reuters said on Wednesday.

The Greek section of the Turkish Stream pipeline will cost USD 2 billion, Greek Minister of Energy Panagiotis Lafazanis has said.

He told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster that there is "enormous interest" among Greek companies to build and use the gas pipeline.

Any decision to build a pipeline to transport Russian gas through Turkey should be made in consultation with the European Union and should not breach pre-existing legal commitments, the European Commission?s energy chief said.

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan's leaders are to seek a renewal of the Nabucco gas pipeline project which came to a halt a few years back, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov has announced.

His comments came at a press conference following a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who is on a visit to Sofia on Wednesday.

Greek solar energy company Photovoltaic Energy Systems is preparing to invest in renewable energy in Turkey, a company official said on March 2.

The company will invest in solar projects in a district of the western city of Edirne, which neighbors Greece, said Kalenteridis Evaggelos.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said that the decision to stop the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline is final.

"In my opinion, the decision which has been taken is final. We are now committed to building the pipeline with a different route," he stated, as cited by ITAR-TASS and the BGNES news agency.

Israel has made a proposal under which its gas will be transited to the EU through a new pipeline, Israeli media outlets say.

The idea includes a route going across the Mediterranean's seabed to reach Cyprus and then Greece and Italy.

Earlier in the 2010s Israel discovered significant gas deposits off its coast and has been pumping from the Tamar Deposit since 2013.

Turkmenistan has signed an outline deal with Turkey to supply gas to a new pipeline that could help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports.

The two countries struck a so-called framework agreement on Oct. 7 for Turkmenistan, which is keen to diversify exports of its gas to world markets, to supply gas to the proposed Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline project (TANAP).

Turkey could become a natural gas hub with its LNG terminals at the border of Greece and Bulgaria, according to an official from BOTAŞ, Turkey’s state-run gas pipeline company.