Turkey is moving forward to become an energy trading hub
Turkey is taking concrete steps to move forward in their plan to becoming an energy trading hub, as it uses its geopolitical position, according to the country’s Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, noting that the government is currently working to develop an energy strategy to involve greater competition, more transparency, better protection for consumers and environmental sustainability.
Albayrak further explained that the country’s energy strategy is based on reducing the cost of security of supply in electricity and natural along with the transfer of advanced technology.
“We introduced a new investment model, especially in the renewable energy sector, which prioritizes the transfer of technology, research and development investments and domestic production,” he said.
The country’s position near oil and gas-rich countries the Middle East, Caspian region and Central Asia makes it crucial for projects aimed at diversifying energy resources and transportation routes and filling the gap in the inactive energy market in southeastern Europe, Albayrak said at Parliament’s Plan and Budget Commission.
The energy minister also added that they are aiming to establish a natural gas trading center in the country. In line with this aim projects like TANAP and the TurkStream (natural gas pipelines) will contribute to this objective.
Albayrak also added that they have accelerated work toward launching the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage and Floating Storage Regasification (FSRU) units that will be established in Turkey for the first time.
The TANAP project aims to bring natural gas, taken from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-2 gas field and other areas of the Caspian Sea, primarily to Turkey, but also on to Europe via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The project is planned to be operational in 2018 with an initial capacity to carry 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Azeri gas through Georgia to Turkey. The TurkStream will carry gas from Russia under the Black Sea to Turkey’s Thrace region and potentially to Europe through a second line.
Presenting the energy ministry’s 2017 budget, Albayrak said that work on the two FSRU projects, with 20 million cubic meters of capacity in the Gulf of İskenderun, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, on the southern coast of Turkey and the Gulf of Saros, off the Gallipoli Peninsula in northwestern Turkey will continue in 2017 while construction of the projects is planned for completion in 2019.
Albayrak said that they are planning to complete the first phase of the natural gas storage facility at TuzGolu (Salt Lake) in January 2017 and the second phase in 2019. They are also planning to begin a third phase of expansion work on the North Marmara Natural Gas facility in 2017.
“In the last 14 years, US$9.3 billion of investment was made on national oil and gas research and production activities. Between 2017 and 2019, US$867 million in domestic investment and US$4.31 billion in international investment is planned in the oil and gas sectors. We are also projecting to open a sea well in the Western Black Sea in 2018,” he said.
Albayrak also hailed Turkey’s renewable energy projects, which account for 32.2% of electricity generation.
According to the ministry’s 2015-2019 Strategic Plan, 32,000 megawatts (MW) of production capacity in hydro power is targeted, 10,000 MW is aimed for wind, 1,000 MW in geothermal, 3,000 MW from solar, and 700 MW from biomass.
He concluded that in the last decade, 52% of investments in electricity production facilities were made in renewable energy.
Turkey aims to consolidate its position centered among energy-rich countries, reduce its energy import dependence and increase reliance on domestic resources.
Turkey’s energy imports in the January-September period of 2016 totaled US$19.5 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat).