Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez, emphasizing that Türkiye's installed electricity capacity has exceeded 97,000 megawatts, said that 52.5 percent of it is made up of renewable energy. Speaking at the MÜSİAD Energy Summit, Dönmez said, "From the industrialist's point of view, we are awaiting the 'Türkiye's Energy Transformation Industry Strategy' report". MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, who shared his assessments at the summit, used the following words: "When Türkiye becomes a trade centre in the energy sector, it will not only ensure its own energy security but will also supply the energy that European countries need and will become an energy market for the exports of Eastern countries".

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez announced that this year 4 Renewable Energy Resource Areas (YEKA) tenders will be held, 2,000 megawatts of which will be in solar energy and 2,000 megawatts in wind. Speaking at the 3rd Energy Summit of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), Dönmez stated that the importance of renewable resources has increased recently. Pointing out that they can grow the battery market in Türkiye by acting jointly with the automotive sector, Dönmez said, "In this way both our automotive manufacturers and our energy sector will benefit". At the program held, in addition to Minister Dönmez and MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, the Chairman of the MÜSİAD Mining, Energy Management and Investments Committee Dr. Cihad Terzioğlu also took part as a speaker.

"INSTALLED ELECTRICITY CAPACITY HAS APPROACHED THE 100,000 MEGAWATT LIMIT"

Giving the information that as of the end of April the installed electricity capacity stood at 97,376 megawatts and that the 100,000 megawatt limit had been approached, Minister Dönmez said that 52.5 percent of it is made up of renewable energy. Stating that 4 YEKA tenders will be held this year, Dönmez said: "We started the Solar YEKA in the last week of April. YEKA GES-3, which we suspended because of the restrictions, started again this week. To date we have completed 50 tenders totalling 650 megawatts. At the end of our 50 tenders the average price was 22.42 kuruş per kilowatt-hour. We will complete the remaining 350 megawatts within a few days".

"THE COST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY HAS FALLEN TO ONE FIFTH"

Stating at the same time that, with the decline in renewable energy costs, investments are being made at approximately one fifth of the cost compared with 5-10 years ago, Dönmez continued as follows: "2020 was the year in which a very high investment in global renewable energy installed capacity growth was commissioned. As in Türkiye, investors around the world rushed to complete their investments by the end of 2020. When we look at the resources, we cannot say that they are all the same. While adding renewable resources to the system, we aim to add as much capacity as we can thanks to the decline in costs". Minister Dönmez conveyed that they will go all the way in renewable energy, but that they will continue to support the system with base load power plants.

"WE HAVE NO SUPPLY SECURITY PROBLEM"

On the other hand, stating that the investments they have implemented to secure Türkiye's supply security continue to increase every year, Dönmez said, "Today we can comfortably say that we have no supply security problem in electricity and natural gas”. Dönmez said, “We will continue to make up the missing parts from base load power plants such as domestic coal, nuclear power plants and natural gas". Pointing out that with the Futures Electricity Market, which will go into operation on 1 June, they have taken an important step in terms of predictable markets, Dönmez used the following words: "By further increasing the transparency of the market, we will protect participants from price risk. Participants who see future price expectations will be able to position themselves. We will provide market participants with ease of position clearing and efficiency in collateral calculations".

"ENERGY SECURITY IS A NATIONAL MATTER"

Speaking at the MÜSİAD 3rd Energy Summit, MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan stated that energy constitutes the building block of sustainable growth and development not only in the economic but also in the political, military and social fields, and said: "Any difficulty experienced in energy supply in these fields directly and indirectly affects the other fields as well. In this respect, it is essential for a country that wishes to achieve sustainable growth and development to secure its energy security."

Pointing out that Türkiye ranks first among the European Union Economic Development and Cooperation Organization (OECD) countries in energy demand growth, and second in the world after China, Kaan said that energy expenditures also lie at the root of Türkiye's current account deficit problem. Drawing attention to the fact that energy supply security is a national matter for Türkiye, Kaan continued as follows:

"As MÜSİAD we believe that when Türkiye becomes a trade centre in the energy sector, it will not only ensure its own energy security but will also supply the energy that European countries need and will become an energy market for the exports of Eastern countries. In this respect, the national energy and mining policy set out on the basis of a strong economy and national security is extremely important in terms of the place Türkiye will acquire in the regional and global energy market in the coming years. If we are able to reach our targets, we will also turn the advantages we possess into opportunities."

"WITH THE DISCOVERY IN THE BLACK SEA, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIER HAS BEEN BROKEN"

Also touching in his speech on the natural gas discovery in the Black Sea, President Kaan stated that with the discovery made in the Black Sea a serious psychological barrier had been broken for Türkiye.

President Kaan made the following statements in his speech:

"We believe that when Türkiye becomes a trade centre in the energy sector, it will not only ensure its own energy supply security but will at the same time supply the energy that Western countries need and will create energy markets that Eastern countries can export to. The National Energy and Mining Policy set out on the basis of a strong economy and national security is extremely important in terms of the place Türkiye will acquire in the regional and global energy market in the coming years. We have no doubt that, if the targets set out in the National Energy and Mining Policy are achieved, Türkiye will turn its advantageous position into an opportunity."