Vision of 2026 in Energy

Minister Bayraktar met with economic journalists in Istanbul and announced Türkiye's vision of 2026 in energy and mining.

New Capacity for Industrialists

Pointing out that there are industrialists who want to establish a solar power plant for self-consumption, Bayraktar said, "We will open new capacities for our industrialists from the beginning of 2026, starting from roofs. We will have done this at the beginning of the year," he said.

Great Signatures Will Be Signed

Pointing out that the new year will be a year in which large-scale projects are signed through an intergovernmental agreement, Bayraktar said, "There are solar projects we are working on, there are renewable and warehouse projects."

3 Thousand Megawatt Floating GES

Stating that there is a great potential in floating solar power plants, Bayraktar said that they want to implement a floating GES of nearly 3 thousand megawatts as soon as possible with the private sector or perhaps with the help of EUAS. Stating that they have made important plans for over-sea wind projects in 2026, Bayraktar said, "We are thinking of a model similar to YEKA."

Electricity from Akkuyu

Bayraktar stated that they aim to produce the first electricity from Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in 2026 and said, "In the 70th year of the nuclear adventure, Türkiye will produce electricity from nuclear."

New Financing from Russia

Explaining that Russia provided a new financing of approximately 9 billion dollars to Akkuyu, Bayraktar said, "This will probably be used in 2026-2027. From there, there will be an external financing of at least 4-5 billion dollars for 2026," he said.

Importance Of Indigenization

Bayraktar explained that they met with Korea, the USA, China and Russia for nuclear projects in Sinop and Thrace and said, "We want to get the most competitive offer. We attach great importance to localization. There is a statement of intent regarding indigenonization in the Akkuyu intergovernmental agreement. You won't see a clear figure there. The conditions of that day were like that, but now we want to increase this localization with clearer figures," he said. Bayraktar stated that they are also working on a regulation that will give Small Modular Reactors (SMR) a legal framework and encourage SMR investments.

The Foundation of the Industrial Facility is in 2026

Explaining the studies in Eskişehir Beylikova on Rare Earth Elements (NTE), Bayraktar said, "We aim to lay the foundation of this industrial facility there in 2026. We are in a very important projecting phase, it is currently related to this facility," he said. Explaining that the purity of rare earth elements is currently reached at the level of 92-93 percent, Bayraktar said that they are working on how to increase the purity level.

We Have No Promise To Any Country

Responding to the allegations about NTEs, Bayraktar said, "We have no promise or commitment to any country. Whatever is in the interest of our country, we aim to do it that way. These are not agreements to be hidden.” Stating that they want to position ETİ MADEN as a national mining company and make it more active, Bayraktar said, "Why shouldn't ETİ MADEN be a company that produces copper and has a gold mine?" He evaluated.

Domestic Gas for 8 Million Households in 2026

Stating that the current production in Sakarya Gas Field will double in 2026, Bayraktar said, "We are going to a process where we meet the natural gas needs of 8 million households with our own gas. This is about 7.5 billion cubic meters. With today's figures, we will have prevented an import of 3.2 billion dollars in this way." said.

Rock Oil in Diyarbakır

Reminding that rock oil is sought in 4 blocks with the conventional method in Diyarbakır, Bayraktar said: "The field in Diyarbakır, which we think is shale oil, is actually about 10-12 times the size of these 4 blocks. We are carrying out this work in only 600 square kilometers of an area of approximately 7 thousand 200 square kilometers. 2026 is a job where we will do horizontal drilling and cracking, and if we succeed, it can really have a game-changing effect on Turkish oil. 2026 is important for us in this respect.”

25 Percent of the Need is Produced

Stating that Türkiye's oil and equivalent natural gas needs are 2 million barrels, Bayraktar said, "When you look at it in terms of oil and natural gas, there is a Turkish oil that meets approximately 25 percent."

Energy Supports Will Continue

Stating that energy support will continue, Bayraktar said, "We aim to walk without crushing our citizens to energy prices to the extent of our possibilities and capabilities." Minister Bayraktar also shared the information that "We do not have a regulation plan for energy prices for January."

New Application for Natural Gas

Reminding that the Application of the End Source Supply Tariff (SKTT) in Electricity has been implemented, Bayraktar said, "We are planning to implement an application similar to SKTT related to natural gas in 2026. We can say that the natural gas bills of those who are above a certain consumption will now be out of the support group." he said.

Carbon Trading Market

Stating that Türkiye's goals for reducing emissions continue, Bayraktar said, "We are planning to implement a carbon trade center and market within EPİAŞ in 2026."

Investment from the Gulf

Stating that they talked about a package of 5 thousand megawatts with the Saudi Arabia-based ACWA company, Bayraktar said, "We will have completed the agreement of this in the first quarter of 2026 as 2 thousand megawatts in the first phase. We are talking about a solar project of 2 thousand megawatts; a thousand megawatts in Sivas, a thousand megawattts in Taşeli. Again, we are talking about a project such as sun plus storage with another company from a different country from the Gulf. The approximate investment amount is between 1.5-2 billion dollars," he said.

2 Thousand Megawatt Storage Investment

Giving information about storage investments, Bayraktar said, "There is a capacity of 33 thousand 500 megawatts in the storage of investors at the moment. A very small part of it came to life, but 2 thousand megawatts of investment will be activated in 2026." said.

DEKA Model For Storage

Bayraktar said that they will be able to implement a model such as Storage Resource Area (DEKA) similar to the Renewable Resource Area (YEKA) model in 2026.

Capacity to DSI

Pointing out that a 1,500 megawatt GES project is on the agenda with DSI, Bayraktar said, "We allocated a capacity of 150 megawatts last year with a solution that will eliminate the costs of pumped irrigation, especially the irrigation associations needed. There is a package with a total of 1,500 megawatts. In other words, we allocate that capacity to DSI as we give capacity to industrialists. We took his first step," he said.

TPAO Will Grow

Emphasizing that they aim to increase the Turkish Petroleum (TPAO), Bayraktar said that they will use an ECA loan of around 1 billion euros for the Black Sea project through the Italian SACE in the near future. Bayraktar said, "Türkiye is now moving stronger towards a period where it will be a player abroad in energy and mines."