Turkey is increasing diversification of natural gas resources with Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and floating LNG terminals (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit, or FSRU) projects, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez. The Ertugrul Gazi FSRU vessel in Dortyol Hatay is one of these investments within the framework of energy supply security initiatives.
“Ertugrul Gazi will be the first Turkish-flagged FSRU ship,” said Donmez, noting that another FSRU vessel leased by the Petroleum Pipeline Company (BOTAS) was previously located in Hatay, where Ertugrul Gazi harbored in April. Ertugrul Gazi can store 110 million cubic meters of standard natural gas.
The goal is to use ‘domestic resources, domestic technologies and domestic intelligence’ as much as possible and carry out projects with public and private sector collaborations as well as with universities in order to consume more domestic and renewable resources in electricity generation, says Donmez. “96.8% of the installed power that we put into use in the first five months of 2021 consisted of renewable resources,” he said, stressing that renewable energy will leave its mark on the future of Turkey.
Donmez also stated that domestic oil production has exceeded 60,000 barrels per day. The daily oil production will reach 100,000 barrels by 2023, he added.
Electricity prices increase 25% in five months
The market clearing price (MPC), considered a key indicator in electricity trade, rose by 25% to TRY 382 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the last five months. The average spot electricity price, which stood at TRY 298 per MWh in January, has reached TRY 382, a 25% increase as of the last three weeks of June. The MCP, which uses the reference price in the sector formed at the DayAhead Market operated by Energy Exchange Istanbul (EPIAS), has rapidly increased in the recent period.
The spot electricity price formed between TRY 290-310 until April amounted to TRY 362.19 on June 20, 2021. The MCP rose to TRY 419.78 on June 21, TRY 421.94 on June 22, TRY 452.41 on June 23, and TRY 481 on June 24.
According to the calculation based on EPIAS data, the average spot electricity price per MWh, which was set as TRY 298 in January has started to increase again after it fell to TRY 287 in February. The monthly average of daily spot electricity prices per MWh rose to TRY 311 in March, TRY 312 in April, TRY 361 in May and TRY 382 in the first 24 days of June.
Kontrolmatik eyes battery production
The technology company Kontrolmatik Teknoloji Enerji ve Muhendislik AS has announced plans to establish a lithium-ion battery production plant with an investment incentive application to benefit from the Technology- Oriented Industry Move Incentive Program offered by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, according to a statement from the company.
GE manufactures 1,111th wind turbine blade
The number of wind turbine blades manufactured by GE Renewable Energy subsidiary LM Wind Power to date has reached 1,111 at its facility in Izmir, representing a potential 1.58 gigawatts of power, helping to meet the increasing demand in wind energy across the world, including Turkey, Europe and Asia. The production plant located at the Bergama Organized Industrial Zone became operational four years ago with a USD 80m investment. The Bergama facility, one of the leading production plants for LM Wind Power, currently employs 800 people, 26% of whom consists of female workers. “We are proud of the success achieved by our team, which has been working in the field since 2017. We’re excited to see our facility’s development and growth without slowing down,” said Emre Kahya, the company’s Bergama Production Plant Director.
Bafa WPP to transform into the hybrid plant
Energy investment company Kazanim Enerji Yatirim Uretim ve Ticaret AS will convert its Bafa Wind Power Plant (WPP) to a hybrid plant with the support of solar energy. For this purpose, the company will set up a power station to run by solar energy as the same supplementary resource with an investment of TRY 100m. The Bafa WPP still has an installed power of 35 megawatts consisting of 10 wind turbines.