Turkey will launch TurkStream natural gas pipeline next month, the country's energy and natural resources minister said on Friday.

"We will launch TurkStream on Jan. 8. This will make us indispensable to international markets, with natural gas pipelines coming from both the east and north," said Fatih Donmez.

TurkStream project is set to deliver natural gas from Anapa in Russia to Europe through a subsea pipeline that links to Turkey via the Black Sea. It consists of two pipelines that will have a total supply capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters, corresponding to the annual energy demand of 15 million homes. Turkey will receive 15.75 billion cubic meters of the gas, while the remainder will go to southeastern Europe. The second line is expected to go from Turkey through Bulgaria, then on to Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia. The second section is expected to be completed in 2020.

Already having launched the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) – which delivers natural gas from Azerbaijan through Turkey and on to Greece, the first stop in its European leg, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) – Dönmez said Turkey would now, together with the Turk Stream pipeline, play a key role in securing Europe’s gas supply.

Dönmez added that the country had been investing in domestic renewable energy, with growing interest and investments set to steadily continue into 2020.