| TurkStream | |
|---|---|
 Map of TurkStream | |
| Location | |
| Country | Russia Turkey |
| From | Russkaya compressor station nearAnapa,Krasnodar Krai, Russia |
| Passes through | Black Sea |
| To | Kıyıköy, Turkey |
| General information | |
| Type | natural gas |
| Operator | |
| Installer of pipes | Allseas |
| Pipe layer |
|
| Construction started | May 2017 |
| Commissioned | 8 January 2020 |
| Technical information | |
| Length | 930 km (580 mi) |
| Maximum discharge | 31.5×10 |
TurkStream (Turkish:TürkAkım orTürk Akımı,Russian:Турецкий поток; former name:Turkish Stream) is anatural gas pipeline running from Russia toTurkey. It starts from Russkaya compressor station nearAnapa in Russia'sKrasnodar Region, crossing theBlack Sea to the receiving terminal atKıyıköy. Most gas flows onwards to theEuropean Union via the Malkoçlar pipeline to Bulgaria.
The first direct gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey under the Black Sea wasBlue Stream, which was commissioned in 2005. In 2009, Russia′s prime ministerVladimir Putin proposed the Blue Stream II line parallel to the original pipeline.[1] The Blue Stream II project never took off and theSouth Stream project took the lead, until it was abandoned in 2014.[2]
The TurkStream (then named Turkish Stream) project was announced by Russia′s presidentVladimir Putin on 1 December 2014 during his state visit to Turkey, when a memorandum of understanding was signed betweenGazprom andBOTAŞ.[2][3] A permit to conduct engineering surveys for the Turkish offshore section was granted in July 2015. Also in July 2015, a memorandum of understanding between Greece and Russia was signed for the construction and operation of the TurkStream section in the Greek territory.[3]
In November 2015, after theshooting down of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24, the project was unilaterally suspended by Russia.[4] In late July 2016, following a reconciliation meeting in Moscow, both sides brought the project back to the table.[5][6] On 10 October 2016, Russia and Turkey officially signed the intergovernmental agreement inIstanbul to execute the project.[7]
A contract with an offshore contractorAllseas for laying the first line was signed on 8 December 2016 and the contract for the second line was signed on 20 February 2017.[8] Laying of the first line in the Russian offshore section started on 7 May 2017.[9] The ceremony of completing construction of the offshore section was held inIstanbul on 19 November 2018.[10] The offshore section of the pipeline was filled with gas in November 2019.[11]
Gazprom began shipping gas via TurkStream, including to Bulgaria andNorth Macedonia, on 1 January 2020, replacing supplies via theTrans-Balkan pipeline throughUkraine andRomania.[12] The pipeline was inaugurated on 8 January 2020 by presidents Putin andRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[13][14]
The TurkStream project replaced theSouth Stream project that was cancelled in 2014.[2] Following theshooting down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey in November 2015, the project was temporarily halted.Russia–Turkey relations were restored in summer 2016 and the intergovernmental agreement for TurkStream was signed in October 2016. Construction started in May 2017 and gas deliveries toBulgaria via the pipeline began on 1 January 2020.
In 2022, Ukraine attempted to blow up the pipeline, but failed.[15]
On 13 January 2025, the Russian defence ministry reported a failed Ukrainian drone attack on a TurkStream compressor station in theKrasnodar region, which Russia called an "act of energy terrorism". The attack happened after Ukraine refused to renew a five-year transit contract for Russian gas through Ukraine.[16]
The pipeline is estimated to cost €11.4 billion.[8] The pipeline has two lines with a total capacity of 31.5 billion m3/a (1.11 trillion cu ft/a) of natural gas.[17] The first line supplies Turkey and the second line allows the transport of natural gas further, to South East and Central Europe.[18][19] Both lines are using pipes with an outer diameter of 810 mm (32 in), manufactured by Europipe GmbH of Germany, Vyksa Steel Works of OMK and Izhora Pipe Mill ofSeverstal of Russia, and a consortium ofMarubeni,Itochu andSumitomo of Japan.[20] Pipes have a wall thickness of 39 mm (1.5 in)[20] and a concrete coating of 80 mm (3.1 in).[3] The internal pressure of the pipeline is 300bars (4,400 psi).[3] The pipeline is installed in water depths up to 2,200 m (7,200 ft).[20]
TurkStream begins at the Russkaya compressor station nearAnapa.[11] It runs approximately 930 km (578 mi) offshore, of which approximately 230 km (140 mi) is located in the Russian maritime zones and approximately 700 km (435 mi) is located in the Turkish waters.[3] The landing point in Turkey isKıyıköy, a village in the district ofVize inKırklareli Province at northwestern Turkey. From there, it continues from Kıyıköy to Malkoçlar into Bulgaria at the Turkey–Bulgaria border.[21]
The further extension of the pipeline in South-East and Central European countries are responsibilities of involved countries. For the gas transport both existing infrastructure and construction of new pipelines will be used. For Gazprom the preferable option is to export gas from the second line toBulgaria,Serbia,Hungary,Slovakia, andAustria.[22] The route in Bulgaria starts on the Bulgaria–Turkey borders and runs by a reverse mode to the compressor station inProvadia, north-east of Bulgaria. From there, a new 474 km (295 mi) pipeline will run to the Bulgaria–Serbia border. New compressor stations will be built in Provadia andRasovo.[22] The Serbian part of the gas transport route begins nearZaječar on the Bulgaria–Serbia border and cross the Serbia–Hungary border nearHorgoš.[23] A connecting branch from Belgrade toBosnia and Herzegovina is planned.[24] The Hungarian section will be only 15 km (9.3 mi) long.[25]
The other planned follow-on projects included also the Tesla pipeline, to run fromGreece toNorth Macedonia,Serbia andHungary, ending at theBaumgarten gas hub inAustria.[26]
The project was implemented by South Stream Transport B.V., a subsidiary of Gazprom, which was originally established for the South Stream project.[8] In the near-shore areas the offshore pipeline was laid by the pipe-laying vesselAudacia. For the deep part of the Black Sea, the pipe-laying vesselPioneering Spirit was used.[9][27]
The contractor for the Turkish section wasPetrofac and the subcontractor for the construction of the receiving terminal in Turkey wasTekfen.[3] Contractor for the onshore section to the Turkey–Bulgaria border was TurkAkim Gaz Tasima A. S. will carry out construction of the land section, a joint venture of Gazprom and BOTAŞ.[13]
TurkStream changes the regional gas flows in South-East Europe by diverting thetransit through Ukraine and the Trans Balkan Pipeline system.[18]
In 2022, Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin planned for Turkey to become an energy hub for all of Europe.[28] According to Aura Săbăduș, a senior energy journalist focusing on the Black Sea region, "Turkey would accumulate gas from various producers –Russia,Iran andAzerbaijan, [liquefied natural gas] and its own Black Sea gas – and thenwhitewash it and relabel it as Turkish. European buyers wouldn't know the origin of the gas."[29]
After the cessation of gas transit through Ukraine to Europe at the beginning of 2025, TurkStream will be the only gas pipeline through which Russia can directly supply gas to Europe. By 2023, Russia's gas deliveries via TurkStream have already increased by 23% to 16.7 billion cubic meters. According to Gokhan Yardim, former manager of the state-owned energy company GOTA, this will open up the possibility of a further 15 billion cubic meters of gas transit. On 11 January 2025, Ukraine attacked a TurkStream gas compressor station in Russia with drones. However, the gas transport was not interrupted.[30]
In 2024, Slovakia entered into a pilot contract to buynatural gas from Azerbaijan to reduce the impact of the Ukrainian closure of the pipeline for Russian supplies in 2025. Transfer may be via Russia and TurkStream.[31]
Er soll ursprünglich einer zweiten Gruppe angehört haben, die zeitgleich die Pipeline Turk Stream sprengen wollte, durch die Russland Gas nach Südeuropa leitet. Der Anschlag schlug fehl [He is believed to have originally belonged to a second group that simultaneously wanted to blow up the TurkStream pipeline, which Russia uses to transport gas to Southern Europe. The attack failed.]
Media related toTurkStream at Wikimedia Commons
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