Turkish energy giant hails market liberalization

By Dilara Zengin

ISTANBUL (AA) - The liberalization of the energy market in Turkey is key to drawing much-needed investments, increasing efficiency and attracting required capital for the economy, according to the chairwoman of Sabanci Holding, Guler Sabanci on Monday.

Speaking at the World Energy Congress, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner for 2016, Sabanci said that the further liberalization of electricity and gas markets were and had to be the country's ultimate goal.

Sabanci said that Turkey stood as a positive and very successful example of having an effective reform program in place in the power sector.

"An investment of $70 billion has been made into new power generation capacity and also in generation and distribution in the last decade.

"We, as Enerjisa, invested $11 billion of this together with our partner E.ON." she said, adding generation capacity almost tripled in the past 15 years, and Turkey managed to cope with the strong growth in power demand, and beyond.

"Security of electricity supply is much better than 8-10 years before."

Sabanci went on to say that through a liberalized gas market and increased trade, Turkey had the potential to develop as a gas trading hub in its region.

"The same is true for electricity, which can also be achieved by larger interconnections and improved electricity exchange market conditions," she said.

Sabanci underlined that energy policies and the role of regulators acting appropriately were essential for a sustainable energy sector.

"Turkey has an effective leadership, and a young and dynamic population that is open to new technologies, and aware of climate change and sustainability. It also has strong growth prospects and enthusiastic energy industry players," she said.

A well-balanced, and diversified energy supply mix is essential to meet the growing demand in a secure and efficient manner while significant amount of investment is needed in each and every segment of the energy value chain for secure and competitive supply and use of energy, she added.