Our Main Goal Is To Ensure Türkiye's Gas Supply Security

Single Mega Trend

Minister Bayraktar,  attended the 14. St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.  Bayraktar stated that the only mega trend in the energy world is electrification and that all areas such as transportation, agriculture and industry have become electric.

Great Potential

Bayraktar emphasized that the electricity demand in Türkiye will triple in the next 20 years, and that an inclusive, flexible and balanced strategy should be developed to achieve sustainable and cost-effective energy, and said, "That's why you see that Türkiye has made great investments and announced policies on the renewable energy side. We have a great potential thanks to sources such as solar, wind, offshore wind, geothermal and biomass.” said.

20 Gigawat Target

Talking about the target of at least 120 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity for 2035, Bayraktar said, "At the same time, we are also seriously investing in nuclear energy production. Together with our Russian partners, we are building 4 reactors in Akkuyu. We are planning to add 8 new reactors in Sinop and Thrace. We will also commission small modular reactors. We will have a capacity of 20 gigawatts of nuclear energy production by 2050," he said.

Most Of It Is With Pipelines

Bayraktar noted that there is a need for natural gas in electricity production in addition to all these investments and reminded that they import a large part of the natural gas with pipelines and said, "We have a reliable supply partnership with Russia and Gazprom for decades. This cooperation, which started in the 1980s, is still ongoing. We also get gas from Iran and Azerbaijan with pipelines. However, especially after 2016, we saw a big increase in the LNG market with the energy from the USA," he said.

Supply Security

Bayraktar stated that they have increased their gasification capacity by about 5 times with the investments they have made since 2016 and said, "In this process, we have also made large investments in new pipeline projects such as TürkAkım and TANAP. Our main goal is to ensure Türkiye's gas supply security. Because we use gas in homes, industry and electricity production. Demand is increasing in all of these areas. In other words, natural gas is of vital importance for Türkiye," he said.

Search and Production

Underlining that another area they focus on in oil and natural gas is exploration and production, Bayraktar said, "We invest in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean in all infrastructure from overseas activities, from production to transportation. After all, our goal is to provide a safe, affordable energy supply to our citizens and customers," he said.

Became Competitive

Bayraktar reminded that there was a transition from coal to gas in the USA in the early 2000s and that electricity began to be produced from natural gas instead of coal and continued: The main reason is that the cost of producing electricity from gas has become much more competitive than coal. We should focus not only on supply security, but also on competitiveness, affordable price and cheap energy. Because these are key elements for the future of both Türkiye and the global gas market. We are not only focusing on the country's natural gas supply security, but also want to contribute to the region, especially Southeast Europe. Thus, they can ensure energy supply security by using our infrastructure.