TURKISH ENERGY POLICY
* With her unique geo-political and geo-strategic location, Turkey
plays a key role in the field of energy among the European Union
(EU) and the Eurasian countries.Its strategic location is one of the
crossing state for the countries that exports energy. For this
reason,energy issue is a concern not only for Turkey but also for
many power generating and consuming countries and especially for the EU.

Turkish energy policy is more or less similar to the policies of other
states.
* It was reshaped after the Cold War era.Turkey’s national energy policy is
based on three elements :
First one is energy diversity. Turkey tries to consume and generate
several kinds of energy such as hydroelectrical, geothermal, coal, wind,
sun but mainly oil and natural gas in order to ensure that it is not
absolutely dependent on any other country for 35-40 percent of its total
energy requirement.
Second is reliability which is to ensure sustainable, high quality and cheap
energy supply.
*And the third is to function as a bridge of energy by utilising the
geopolitical features of the country. The objective of these policy is to
establish mutual cooperation and thus, to contribute to stability, to
sustainable development and prosperity of the region.
Main target of Turkey is to connect the oil and gas producing countries
with the consuming market countries in the most economic and reliable
manner.
During the last years, Turkey has spent too much effort for the
implementation of this policy to achieve its targets. The Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) main export crude oil pipeline project, which is once considered as
dream project, or East-West, North-South pipeline projects that cross
through the Turkish lands are the results of these efforts. Turkey’s energy
strategy is to become a major consumption and transit terminal in the
region.
Energy supply and demand balance is the same as in any other
country’s energy policy.Demand for energy increases 8 per cent yearly
whereas the world average is 1.8 per cent .
* Turkey’s energy consumption is expected to be 154 million tones by
2010 and 282 million tones by 2020.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN TURKEY
* Turkey has been spending its efforts to promote energy efficiency on
national scale and to foster rapid development of alternative energy
sources. It has substential amount of renewable energy sources. High
priority is given to these sources in order to reduce the energy supply and
to foster greenhouse gas abatement
A seperate law was enacted in 2005 to encourage the renewables based
on electricity generation within the competative electricity market structure.
* The Energy Efficiency Law, which aims to increase the energy
efficiency awareness and training and to promote the energy services
activities in the energy market, was put into force in May 2007.
About the 17 per cent of Turkey’s total energy consumption depends on
gas.In the long term,Turkey’s demand and imports are expected to raise
highly.Oil constitutes around 42 per cent of total energy requirements of
the country.Turkey imports about 90 per cent of its oil supplies mainly
from the Middle East Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran ,Iraq and Syria as
well as Russia.
Turkey’s port of Ceyhan is the major outlet for Iraqi petrol. The
construction of Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline has increased the
security of supply and reduced the risk caused by the dangerous
materials carried through the Turkish Straits.As of 2007, around 202
million barrels of oil have been transported by loading 245 tankers
since it started functioning in May, 2006.
Another major pipeline is Baku-Tblisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline which
brings Azer Shah Deniz gas to Turkey .This pipeline has been functioning
since early July 2007. A certain part of EU’s fast growing gas need will be
covered while meeting the domestic gas demand of Turkey.
Turkey-Greece pipeline is the first gas pipeline connection from
South Eastern direction to the European Continent and constitutes
the First phase of the South European Gas Ring inaugrated in
18 November2007.
Russia exports much of its oil through the Bosphorous onto the
Mediterranean Sea and beyond.
Turkey is also a major hydroelectrical power producer not only for itself but
also for the Middle East, Black Sea and Gulf countries. Further more, oil and
gas exploration studies in the Black Sea gained speed in the last few years.
source :CONFEDERATION OF TURKISH CRAFTSMEN AND TRADESMEN