In the wake of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal between Potash and ExxonMobil, Turkey has taken steps to strengthen energy ties with the United States and Azerbaijan in an attempt to strengthen not only its own energy security, but also Europe’s energy security. On a mission to reach energy independence, the country is determined to raise the level of renewable electricity production, following the recent rise in green electricity generation from solar and wind energy.
After entering into negotiations with ExxonMobil, Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Company (BOTAŞ) signed a deal worth about $1.1 billion with the US-based energy giant. 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually for ten years. He attended the signing ceremony held in Washington Abdul Wahid FidanGeneral Manager of Potash Company, W Matthew R. ChandlerGlobal President of ExxonMobil LNG.
Alp Arslan BayraktarThe Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, who also attended the signing ceremony, explained: “We signed a cooperation agreement on LNG trade between BOTAŞ and ExxonMobil in Washington, where we came to make various contacts. The USA is one of the important countries from which we are currently supplying LNG.
He added: “With this agreement, which is scheduled to be long-term, we will take another step towards diversifying our resources. We are among the few countries in the world with our gasification capacity. We will continue to contribute to the security of energy supplies for both our country and our region.”
During his visit to Washington, Bayraktar not only met with members of the Board of Directors of the Caspian Sea Policy Center, but also with Senator Joe ManchinChairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, representing the state of West Virginia, where they discussed issues that would improve relations between the two countries.
Turkey, which has seven international natural gas pipelines, five LNG facilities, including three floating storage and reprocessing units (FSRU), and two underground natural gas storage facilities, aims to become a major gas hub in the region, excel as an exporter and… An effective manager of the gas it saves.
In addition, he met with the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jennifer GranholmUS Secretary of Energy, which led to the launch of the Energy and Climate Dialogue Program between the two countries. This program will enable to jointly discuss the steps that should be taken to develop energy cooperation between Turkey and the United States through the activities carried out in this direction, allowing representatives of the public and private sectors to come together.
“Turkey and the United States have many potential areas of cooperation. The number of areas is increasing as the energy transition has become an undeniable reality in the industry. Areas such as renewables, critical minerals and liquefied natural gas are among many. Not only in our respective countries, but we can Also cooperation in third countries and in different regions. Bayraktar said.
Since the deal with ExxonMobil boosted LNG trade between Turkey and the United States, Bayraktar believes that this trade will strengthen economic relations between the two countries and open the door to new cooperation opportunities. While Bayraktar explained that Turkey has diversified its resources and made extensive investments in energy infrastructure to meet the growing energy demand, he emphasized moves towards creating a cleaner and more sustainable energy environment for all.
With the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan Revealing the net-zero emissions target for 2053, Bayraktar noted that Turkey’s strategic geographical location at the intersection of global energy markets provides attractive investment opportunities. As a result, he is optimistic about the partnership with the United States, which he believes will contribute to achieving it “Greater cooperation between the energy sectors of the two countries and ensuring the security of energy supplies.”
More gas from Azerbaijan flows to Türkiye
Aside from strengthening LNG ties with the United States, Turkey has also concluded an agreement with Azerbaijan on the transportation of Turkmenistan’s natural gas via Azerbaijan and Georgia. For this purpose, Bayraktar met with Mikael JaparovThe Azerbaijani Minister of Economy, in Istanbul, where the two signed a cooperation agreement in the field of natural gas, pledging to increase gas production capacity through several pipelines.
During the signing ceremony, BOTAŞ General Manager W Rovshan NajafThe head of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed an agreement on the supply of gas from the field Igdir Nakhchivan Natural gas pipeline. According to Bayraktar, this has transferred relations between the two countries to a new dimension and will allow additional quantities of gas from Azerbaijan, along with natural gas from the Caspian Sea region, to Turkey and Europe by 2030.
While the exact quantities have not yet been announced, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources explained: “Turkey and Azerbaijan are contributing greatly to the security of our supplies and the security of energy supplies in Europe through this exemplary cooperation. (…) We expect that Azerbaijani natural gas in the Caspian Sea region will reach Turkey in additional quantities, and some of this gas will reach Europe via Turkey.”
Azerbaijan and Turkey have several pipelines connecting their borders, and the Igdir-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline that will transport gas to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan will be added to the pipelines that the two countries will develop jointly. The deal also included discussions about expanding the capacity of two existing pipelines: South Caucasus Natural gas pipeline and Trans Anatolia Natural gas pipeline project (TANAP).
While announcing the start of operation of the Igdir-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline, Bayraktar said: “We hope that natural gas will be delivered to Nakhchivan this winter via Turkey via this pipeline. We plan to put this line into operation as soon as possible. It is clear that our construction activities will be coming to an end.
“We also discussed the issue of increasing the capacity of the TANAP and South Caucasus natural gas pipelines until 2030 and beyond. We will conduct joint studies together on expanding connectivity capabilities, especially in Bulgaria and Greece, in order to provide more gas supplies from Caspian Sea resources to Turkey and Europe via Turkey.” .
Renewable electricity generation breaks record
Turkey’s medium-term goal of producing 60 GW of renewable energy by 2035 requires installing 5 GW of solar and wind power annually over the next 12 years. The country’s wind potential is about 100 GW under current technology and conditions and the current installed capacity is 11,609 MW. However, advances in wind turbine technologies have the potential to raise this capacity to 150 GW, indicating an additional capacity of around 140 GW.
While this suggests that Turkey still has a long way to go to reach its renewable energy goals, the country is making progress in this endeavor, emphasized Bayraktar, who recently revealed that electricity production from solar and wind power broke a record in April. .
The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources noted that electricity production based on solar energy reached 2.4 billion kilowatt hours in April, breaking the monthly record. The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources confirmed: He added, “This amount of production also means a record in terms of the percentage of production based on solar energy to the total electricity production, with a share of 10%.”
While Bayraktar pointed out that a similar record was achieved in electricity production based on wind energy in April, he stressed: “We reached the highest level of electricity production from wind energy ever in April, at 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours.”
As a result of record solar and wind production last month, the country’s total value of electricity production from renewable resources rose to 15.5 billion kilowatt hours, marking another milestone since the share of renewable energy in total electricity production reached 64%.
While Bayraktar pointed out that Türkiye has great potential in the field of renewable energy, he stressed: “We plan to achieve our goal of complete energy independence by making the most of this great potential.
“We expect our total current installed capacity to increase by approximately 80 GW by 2035. We aim to provide 60 GW of this increase from renewable sources.”
