Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, stated that they have made great investments in natural gas infrastructure, underground warehouses and gasification units in Turkey, ⁇ Now our entire supply portfolio is transforming from long-term pipeline gas contracts to more flexible long-term energy contracts. Therefore, we make a big difference in this market and bring more competitive solutions to the market with these infrastructure investments.
Bayraktar spoke at the Ministerial Panel held within the scope of the Gastech 2024 energy forum held in Houston, Texas, USA.
Mentioning the three challenges Turkey faces in the energy sector, Bayraktar said that the first of these is the increase in energy demand from homes to industry in the country.
We can't say no to an alternative solution.
Bayraktar pointed out that 3 ⁇ te 2 ⁇ of the primary energy in the country is from imports, and therefore Turkey ⁇ is dependent on imports in energy.
Referring to the country's energy transformation journey, Bayraktar pointed out that Turkey wants to be a carbon-neutral economy.
Bayraktar stated that they have developed policies to overcome these three challenges, and we are developing policies to meet global demand, reduce dependency and address the energy transformation journey. Therefore, we are in a position where we cannot say no to an alternative energy solution or source coming from any direction.
⁇ Gasification capacity increased fivefold ⁇
In this context, Bayraktar said that they have developed a long-term and ambitious program and reminded that they detected the Black Sea gas field in 2020.
Bayraktar pointed out that natural gas was supplied to 2.6 million households in less than 4 years, adding that there is great potential to increase this number.
Referring to other studies in the field of energy, Bayraktar said:
At the same time, we make large investments in our gas infrastructure, underground warehouses, gasification units. We have increased our gasification capacity by almost 5 times, and now our entire supply portfolio is transforming from long-term pipeline gas contracts to more flexible long-term energy contracts. Therefore, we make a big difference in this market and bring more competitive solutions to the market with this infrastructure investment. ⁇
Bayraktar emphasized the importance they attach to nuclear energy by stating that they have an ambitious program that they want to increase Turkey's renewable energy production capacity to 100 gigawatts in 2035.
Stating that all the policies they developed require a ⁇ 360 degree perspective, Bayraktar pointed out the importance of issues such as the discovery of critical minerals, the production of solar panels, new technologies, digitalization, increasing the capacity of the transmission network, integrating the network into neighboring markets.
⁇ Turkey, Europe's fourth largest gas market ⁇
Bayraktar touched upon various cooperations from the Middle East to Europe in the field of energy and pointed out that Turkey plays an important role in Europe's security of supply.
Stating that natural gas is very important not only for Turkey but also for the region, Bayraktar said, ⁇ We started to produce our own gas, but also made great investments in international projects with pipelines and to increase regasification capacity. Now we can bring more than we need, he said.
Pointing out that Turkey is the fourth largest gas market in Europe with 50 billion cubic meters, Bayraktar noted that with infrastructure, neighboring countries and reliable suppliers from other parts of the world, they can bring almost 75 billion cubic meters of gas to the Turkish market.
Stating that they can export the extra 25 billion cubic meters to European markets, Bayraktar noted that a long-term and successful cooperation can be achieved if the right balance is established between producer, carrier and consumer countries.
