Turkey's top energy official has boasted of the steps the country has taken in recent years in the area of liberalization and regulation of the energy market, saying some countries get advice from Turkey at a top level on the issue Today`s Zaman reported.
"Some of our general managers have been acting as advisors to the prime ministers of some countries," said Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.
Stressing the importance of the liberalization of the local energy market, which also paves the way for attracting foreign investors, while at the same time introducing necessary regulations, at the 6th International Energy Congress in Ankara the minister said, "A lot of countries ask us today to carry out a study in what measure the Turkish model can be applied to them."
"This is pleasing for Turkey," Yildiz said, adding, "Turkey has established a market where the private sector is more prominent, but [closely] monitored by the state."
Turkey to increase wind power generation sevenfold
Speaking at the congress, organized by the Ankara-based Global Energy Association, Yildiz underlined the importance of meeting with local sources the energy needs of the country, which amounts to an equivalent of 114 million tons of oil every year.
Although the minister said that in cases where locals have been victimized by the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HES), necessary arrangements will be made by institutions such as the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK) to eliminate the negative effects of HESs on local people. Turkey cannot afford to give up on its water resources, he added. Currently, Turkey obtains a quarter of its energy needs from domestic resources, including HESs.
Wind also represents a major domestic energy source that the Ministry of Energy, as part of its efforts to make more use of domestic and renewable sources in the production of energy, is planning to develop. A total of 1,330 wind turbines are currently in place in Turkey, which saves the country from spending an additional $500 million on natural gas. In the future, the Ministry of Energy aims to increase the savings by wind turbines by at least seven times, i.e., decrease the amount Turkey will spend on natural gas by $3.5 billion, the minister stated.
Turkey to preside over IEA ministerial meeting for first time
Turkey is not rich in energy resources, but is an important transit country in the energy market, and its standing in the energy sector has been getting better. "Turkey will for the first time preside over the ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency [IEA], which will be held from Nov. 19 to 21 in Paris," said Mithat Rende, who was recently appointed ambassador of Turkey to the OECD, at the opening of the two-day congress.
After midnight on Wednesday, more good news came from Canada following a vote in which Turkey was chosen as the country to host the World Petroleum Congress in 2016.
First nuclear power plant to produce energy by mid 2020
Turkey's first nuclear power plant to be built in Akkuyu by a Russian firm should start generating electricity by the middle of 2020, Alexander Superfin, CEO of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, said at the congress. Construction of the $20 billion project is expected to begin in 2016. Noting that the project has strategic importance in Russian-Turkish relations, Superfin said, "We'll be finalizing the basic design [of the plant] by the end of this year."