Turkey’s rising energy demand rise will see it forming one of the largest three energy markets in Europe after Germany and the United Kingdom in the near future, an industry expert has told The Anadolu Agency.
With Turkey's yearly gas demand having increased to a current volume of about 50 billion cubic meters from about 20 billion cubic meters in 2004, the country is proving to be one of the most attractive global markets for energy players, said Frank Quante, general manager of EWE Turkey Holding.
Quante said Turkey would improve its investment expectations in the energy sector as long as market conditions continued to improve under new reforms and growth, including the connection of about 10 million new homes to a gas grid in the coming years.
EWE Turkey, under the umbrella of EWE AG, has been acting in the Turkish energy market since 2007.
- 'Great success'
The firm is the majority stakeholder in companies that operate the gas grids in Turkey's northwestern Bursa province and the central province of Kayseri. It is also the owner of EWE Energy and Enervis, a German-based energy company.
Quante said the number of EWE Turkey's customers in Bursa and Kayseri doubled in just a few years.
There are now only five cities which do not have natural gas out of 81 cities in Turkey.
Quante said: 'That is a great success for Turkey, I am impressed by the overall dynamic of the market and this has to go on.'
Emphasizing that Turkey has a big potential for energy savings through greater efficiency, Quante said: 'We are especially interested in contributing more to energy efficiency and bringing technologies to Turkey such as those we use in Germany.'
According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, Germany is the largest energy-consuming country in Europe, using 91 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.
It is followed by the United Kingdom, which has a yearly demand of 77 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency