EGL, Demiroren Form Two Turkey Joint Ventures

The EGL Group and the Demirören Group have established two joint ventures in Turkey. The objective of the two reorganised companies is to expand presence in the Turkish electricity and natural gas markets. The two energy sectors offer highly attractive development opportunities.

The two former companies, EGL Turkey (subsidiary of the EGL Group) and Milangaz LNG Wholesale (subsidiary of the Demirören Group), were renamed as Demirören EGL Enerji and Demirören EGL Gaz after an exchange of shares in equal parts. The Demirören Group and the EGL Group now each own half of the share capital in the mentioned companies. With this step, Demirören EGL Enerji benefits from the Turkish electricity trading license belonging to EGL Turkey, and in turn, Demirören EGL Gaz can take advantage of the natural gas trading license of Milangaz LNG Wholesale. Both companies focus their business activities on energy trading and expansion of the client business with structured products and innovative services (origination), as well as the import of electricity and natural gas to Turkey.

“The two joint ventures put us in an excellent position in the Turkish energy market and enable us to take advantage of opportunities in the growing natural gas market, as well as the electricity market,” says Serhat Uludag, the new Managing Director of the two companies, Demirören EGL Enerji and Demirören EGL Gaz. “EGL brings its vast experience in European energy trading and valuable inter-national contacts into our partnership, and is therefore a perfect match for us,” says Erdogan Demirören, owner of the Demirören Group. “Demirören has an excellent network in Turkey with 55 years of business experience. The group is well established in the Turkish energy market through its strong position in the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) market and petroleum products downstream mar-ket, as well as in developing geothermal power generation projects. This makes Demirören the ideal partner for EGL in Turkey,” says Markus Brokhof, Head of the Gas Supply & SEE Division and Mem-ber of Executive Management in the EGL Group.

Turkish electricity and gas markets offer attractive growth potential

Economic development and population growth in Turkey offer attractive opportunities in this local energy market. The demand for electricity has increased by an average of over 5 percent per year over the last ten years. By 2020, the country’s energy consumption is projected to double as compared to 2010. In order to meet the increasing demand for electricity in Turkey, installed capacity must increase from currently 50 GW to about 80 GW over the next ten years. In addition, plans are underway to connect the Turkish electricity grid to the Southern European high voltage grid in June 2011, which will offer interesting opportunities for cross-border electricity trading.

The natural gas market is also in transition: Liberalisation has opened up interesting business fields in a market with a yearly consumption of 37 billion cubic metres, expected to nearly double by 2020. Firstly, natural gas is an important factor for Turkish electricity production (50%). Secondly, due to its geographic location, Turkey is an important transit country for the transport of natural gas from the Middle East and the Caspian region to Europe and plays a decisive role in the “Southern Corridor”.

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Source: EGL, April 26, 2011;