Global experts discuss financing energy transition at Istanbul Energy Forum

By Seda Sevencan, Esra Tekin and Gokhan Ergocun.

ISTANBUL (AA) – Global experts discussed financing the energy transition at the Istanbul Energy Forum on Friday, highlighting Turkish companies' vibrant wind energy industry and noting that the government in Ankara plans to increase its investment in renewable energy in the coming years.

The Istanbul Energy Forum, organized by the Turkish international news agency Anadolu under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, focused on the theme "Common Future, Common Goals," bringing together global energy leaders to address shared challenges.

As part of this forum, a panel titled "Financing the Energy Transition: Expectations and Priorities" was moderated by Auskar Surbakti, TRT World Money Talks program host.

The panelists included Humberto Lopez, World Bank country director for Türkiye; Taha Meli Arvas, CEO and advisor to the minister, Energy Exchange Istanbul; Deger Saygin, Industry Programme Lead, OECD; Marieme Travaly, infrastructure and natural resources regional manager head for the Middle East, Central Asia, and Türkiye (IFC); and Sule Topcu Kilic, deputy director for Türkiye at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Lopez highlighted Türkiye’s strides in energy transformation.

Lopez also emphasized that Turkish export companies have established a vibrant wind energy industry, noting that the government is set to increase its investment in renewable energy in the coming years.

Kilic, for his part, said that they invest equity in projects that they find suitable for investments, adding, "We also provide financing to Turkish financing institutions. Now, we put the numbers together; out of €21 billion over the period of €2.6 billion in the energy sector, we provide direct financing,” Kilic said.

“Another €2.8 billion of financing was again supporting the renewable energy projects through Turkish banks and financing,” Kilic added.

She added that, in line with Türkiye’s goals of achieving net-zero emissions for climate change by 2024 to 2029, they prioritize renewable energy and green transition as the top agenda in the country.

“Any project and financing necessary to decarbonize industries, as well as to increase renewable energy capacity, we will be there,” she added, expressing the EBRD’s readiness to support Türkiye in increasing the start of the renewable energy capacity.

- Green projects

Marieme Travaly, infrastructure and natural resources regional manager head for the Middle East and Central Asia, Türkiye of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), said large-scale projects in the green sector should be developed between countries such as Türkiye, which has solar capacity, and Uzbekistan, which has wind capacity.

"So always to say that I have seen prior times projects in the countries where we do see this potential in order to see how to reduce energy import dependency while cutting at the same time outside the carbon emissions," she said.

Another area of focus would be on affordability and clean energy, she noted.

"We are trying to align climate goals with the urgent need to expand affordable energy access, so the balance is particularly crucial in regions or countries like Türkiye, Central Asia, and the Middle East," she said.

She added that the IFC collaborates very closely with governments, private stakeholders, and other multilateral development banks to try to see how to design and implement together energy frameworks that attract investment while ensuring fair and inclusive energy pricing.

Meanwhile, Arvas said they are working to reduce the risks faced by producers.

Arvas explained that they aim to finance raw material purchases, saying, “Instead of going and borrowing from a bank and paying interest on this, they can sell that electricity ahead of time, which will allow them to purchase commodities that are necessary for the production of electricity.”

Separately, Saygin stressed that decarbonization efforts in the industrial sector are at a critical juncture, noting that the industrial sector accounts for 40% of global carbon emissions and, therefore, plays a key role in the fight against climate change.

Saygin said the scale of investment required for decarbonizing industries needs to increase by as much as 8 to 10 times between now and 2050, which is significantly higher than what they observe in the energy sector when global figures are examined.

“Given that challenge, not only public and private but from all sources, there's finance needed. It's also international and national. So that's the key message from the OECD. Maybe a few things to elaborate on with some numbers from the OECD, which monitors the emerging and developing markets,” he added.