Gas to Remain Dominant Fuel in Turkish Power Market

Renewable energy capacity is surging in Turkey, but natural gas will remain the fuel of choice for power generation in the coming years, the managing director of OMV Turkey said at the Platts Mediterranean Power Markets Conference late Tuesday.

“Wind and other investments are speeding up,” but natural gas will remain the dominant fuel for the near term, Korkut Ozturkman said at the meeting in Madrid.

Natural gas currently supplies about 45% of Turkey’s power, he said, with hydropower contributing 25%, and coal and lignite 18%. The balance comes from renewables and other resources.

Ozturkman said the government currently owns 56% of Turkey’s 49 GW of installed capacity, but that the government is moving rapidly toward privatizing the power generation system. Its goal is to realize a fully privatized power market, including all state-owned gas resources, by 2015, he said.

Turkey is the world’s second-fastest growing market for power, trailing only China, Ozturkman said, and by 2020 could be Europe’s third-largest power market.

(platts)

[mappress]

Source: platts, December 1, 2011;