Turkey should reduce foreign dependence on energy in order to reduce the current account deficit, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said.
Visiting Bergama Organized Industrial Zone and meeting with industrialists, Minister Bayraktar stated that Turkey is located on fertile lands in many fields from gold to coal, but that the country’s economy has a current account deficit, especially in terms of energy imports.
In 2022, Turkey’s energy imports amounted to about USD 96.5 billion.
Bayraktar stated that the energy import bill was down to USD 70 billion in 2023 however, according to the energy minister “Turkey has no chance to solve the current account deficit problem, foreign exchange problem and ultimately inflation problem by paying USD 70 billion, USD 80 billion, USD 90 billion in energy bills every year.”
Bayraktar continued his speech as follows:
Therefore, the goal we have set in Turkey under the leadership of Mr. President in the field of energy is as follows: We strive to implement policies and projects that will definitely reduce Turkey’s current account deficit, reduce foreign dependence on energy and ultimately make Turkey energy independent and self-sufficient in the coming period. The way to achieve this is for Turkey to utilize its own resources. First and foremost, renewable resources, namely our sun, wind and geothermal resources, so we need to bring these resources into the economy. Secondly, Turkey needs to find its own natural gas and oil. All our policies and activities are in this direction.”
Stating that a very important gas discovery has been made in the Black Sea and that they aim to increase production rapidly, Bayraktar said that they are working with the aim of providing household natural gas needs from domestic resources.
Referring to Turkey’s oil discoveries, Bayraktar said that Turkey’s highest quality oil was produced in Gabar, which was previously known for terrorism.
Pointing out the importance of using domestic equipment while realizing oil, natural gas and renewable energy resources, Minister Bayraktar said:
“Today, we have over 12 thousand megawatts of installed wind power in Turkey. Therefore, we wanted to produce equipment while converting this wind into electricity and energy at the same time, thus opening up an ecosystem, an industry and an area that can contribute to employment. For this reason, we have a domestic equipment support mechanism. Because we set a very big target in renewable energy. We said that Turkey currently ranks 12th in the world in solar and wind. We are 5th in Europe. But this place is not enough for us. Because our country has a huge potential in this respect. We have to build 5 thousand megawatts of solar and wind power plants every year. We need to be a country that produces its blades, towers and solar panels. Turkey has a serious way to go in this sense.”
Target for gold production: 100 tons per year
Stating that Turkey is a country that imports a lot of gold and that the potential in gold mining should be better utilized, Bayraktar said “We need to increase our gold production to at least 100 tons per year in the next 5 years. In order to do this, of course, we need to make investments without giving up people, human health and prioritizing the environment. I would like to ask this again, especially from our friends working in the mining sector.”
