German government supports gas pipelines to Europe from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan

The German federal government supports the expansion of gas pipelines from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to Europe via Turkey, a government official said, the Handelsblatt reports. The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) are to deliver gas from Azerbaijan, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently visiting, to Europe after crossing through Turkey, the article says. The pipelines’ transmission capacity – at 16 billion cubic metres of gas per year – is much lower than that of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which transports Russian gas directly to Germany, as well as that of its controversial proposed twin, Nord Stream 2.  

Read the article (behind paywall) in German here.

For background, read the factsheets Gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 links Germany to Russia, but splits Europe and Germany’s dependence on imported fossil fuels and the dossier The role of gas in Germany’s energy transition.