Turkey is a key country for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the project which plays a crucial role for the EU's energy security, according to Deloitte's energy and natural resources industry leader.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Friday, Uygar Yoruk said that Turkey with its geopolitical advantage attracts trade and investments from energy companies to the country.
"TANAP paved the way for great deals with Japanese and Russian companies. The third nuclear power plant in the Afsin-Elbistan field drew the attention of foreign investors to large projects such as this development," Yoruk said.
Turkey's TANAP project is planned to become operational in 2018 with an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters to carry Azeri gas through Turkey to Europe. Its capacity is planned to increase to 23 billion cubic meters by 2023 and to 31 billion cubic meters by 2026.
TANAP’s existing shareholders are SOCAR of Azerbaijan with 58 percent, while Turkish BOTAS holds 30 percent and British Petroleum (BP) has a 12 percent stake in the project.
- Turkey should 'accelerate' renewable energy
Commenting on Turkey's renewable energy projects, Yoruk said Turkey should accelarate its development in renewable energy.
"Turkey needs to further focus on renewable energy sources while accelerating the development of domestic technology equipment and the elimination of barriers to the financing of renewable energy investments," Yoruk said.
Reminding the Turkish Energy Ministry's 2015-2019 Strategic Energy Plan, Yoruk said, "The aims which are meant to be achieved will mostly reduce Turkey's dependence on natural gas imports."
Being a net importer of natural gas, Turkey widely uses gas for heating purposes during the winter period. The energy-hungry country strives to diversify its gas imports to avoid too much of a dependence on any single source country like Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan.
Turkey's natural gas import increased by 42 million cubic meters in December of last year compared with December 2013. This was due to a rise in consumption with colder weather, rise in the number of gas subscribers in homes and industry as well as improved gas transmission systems.
By Gokhan Yildiz
Anadolu Agency
gokhan.yildiz@aa.com.tr