Türkiye caps a year of major developments and cooperation in the fields of rare earth materials, oil and natural gas and has designated 2025 as a crucial year for its nuclear energy ambitions.
It emerged as a key player in the global energy sector, forging key partnerships with major energy stakeholders, including ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Shell.
Türkiye also expanded its role in regional hydrocarbon exploration, including partnerships with Niger and Somalia.
It added a vast floating natural gas production platform to expand its energy fleet, which will help it significantly increase production at its vast natural gas reserve in the Black Sea.
Türkiye made several advancements in the renewable energy sector in 2024, reaching record installed capacity.
On Jan. 8, Türkiye committed to investing $20 billion (TL 707.33 billion) in energy efficiency programs across the public and private sectors by 2030.
On Jan. 25, as part of efforts to reduce energy reliance on foreign imports, Türkiye earmarked 7,500 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity for industrial use in 2024. This initiative was part of a broader plan to promote energy independence, with a commitment of $5 billion in investments.
On Feb. 23, the World Bank approved a 600 million euro ($624.24 million) loan guarantee to help Turkish exporters reduce carbon emissions and remain competitive in the global market.
On the same day, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) granted a 46 million euro loan to a Turkish mining company for energy and resource efficiency investments.
On March 28, Türkiye's installed solar capacity surpassed 12,000 megawatts for the first time, reaching 12,425 megawatts.
On April 12, Türkiye set a new record, generating 78.5% of its daily electricity from renewable sources.
On May 16, Türkiye, along with the World Bank and Turkish development banks, signed an agreement for a $1 billion program to accelerate the market transition for distributed energy.
On June 30, Türkiye set a new record in wind power generation, producing a staggering 228,604 megawatt-hours of electricity.
On Aug. 10, U.K. Export Finance (UKEF) and Poland's export credit agency, KUKE, jointly guaranteed a 249 million euro loan being arranged by Standard Chartered Bank for Turkish renewable energy investment company Kalyon Enerji, enabling the construction of Türkiye's second-largest solar project to date.
Türkiye also accelerated its efforts and set successive records in natural gas and oil production, in line with its vision of becoming an energy hub.
The country purchased its first floating production, storage and evacuation platform (FPSO) to boost production at the Black Sea reserve, believed to contain 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas.
The platform is expected to be operational by 2026 and help Türkiye double its gas production at the Sakarya Gas Field, which currently stands at 7 million cubic meters (mcm) per day.
It is expected to increase to 10 million cubic meters daily by the first quarter of 2025, meeting around 7% of Türkiye's domestic consumption.
The daily production is expected to reach 20 million cubic meters by 2026. That is aimed to eventually be lifted to up to 45 million cubic meters.
On Feb. 2, Türkiye's largest private natural gas producer, Thrace Basin Natural Gas Türkiye Corporation (TBNG), announced plans to drill five new wells in the Tekirdağ region and Silivri in the Sea of Marmara.
On May 23, Türkiye's Fatih drillship commenced operations at its new location in the Göktepe-2 well of the Sakarya Gas Field.
On Aug. 2, Türkiye's drillship, Abdulhamid Han, headed to the Black Sea to start drilling in the region for new exploration and on Nov 9, the vessel arrived at its duty area.
On Sept. 19, the new member of Türkiye's energy fleet, the FPSO, passed through the Çanakkale Strait, or the Dardanelles.
Officials have said 2025 would be a crucial year in terms of nuclear energy, as Türkiye plans to make final decisions on building two additional large conventional power plants.
They would add to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which is under construction near the Mediterranean port city of Mersin.
The $20 billion, 4,800 megawatts (MW) Akkuyu plant will bring Türkiye into the small club of nations with civil nuclear energy.
The country plans to launch trial production of the first reactor in 2025. The remaining three reactors are expected to come online by the end of 2028.
Türkiye plans a second plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop and a third in the northwest region of Thrace.
The goal is to reach 7,700 MW of nuclear generation capacity by 2035, according to officials. The eventual target is to have 15,000 MW of nuclear capacity.
Türkiye looks to complement these with up to 5,000 MW of small modular reactors (SMRs).
Türkiye produced a record 3.4 million barrels of crude oil in November, half of it coming from the Gabar mountain region in the southeast province of Şırnak.
The pace of crude oil extraction in Türkiye has picked up significantly in recent years with major discoveries and the start of production in Şırnak, where authorities aim to lift daily output to 100,000 barrels.
The production there has exceeded 61,000 barrels, according to Bayraktar.
Şırnak province had long been a victim of PKK terrorist attacks and has suffered from underdevelopment for decades. Years of counterterrorism operations have eventually enabled a major transformation of the region that is now home to one of the country's most important oil reserves.
The output in Gabar gradually rose from 25,000 bpd in October 2023 to 30,000 bpd in December of the same year before reaching 35,000 in January 2024. Türkiye is estimated to consume about 1 million barrels of oil a day.
Türkiye is almost entirely dependent on imports to cover its energy needs, which left it vulnerable to rising costs that surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Over the years, it ramped up its hydrocarbon explorations in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean to curb external dependence.
2024 started off with international talks to enhance cooperation in various areas within the energy sector.
On Jan. 9, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar vowed to enhance cooperation for the excavation and processing of rare earth materials.
On Jan. 14, Bayraktar emphasized Libya's potential in oil and gas and reaffirmed Ankara's readiness to collaborate with countries and companies to help Libya use this potential.
On Jan. 23, he discussed a roadmap for energy cooperation with the United Arab Emirates' Investment Minister Mohamed bin Hassan Alsuwaidi.
On Jan. 24, Bayraktar and Iran's Petroleum Minister Javad Owji discussed expanding energy cooperation between the two countries.
On April 16, the head of the state energy company Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) and Egypt's Ambassador to Türkiye discussed energy cooperation in Ankara.
On April 25, Turkish and Greek energy ministers pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation during the first Greek-Turkish Energy Forum in Istanbul.
Türkiye signed several agreements with different nations to strengthen its energy cooperation during the year.
On Feb. 1, Türkiye inked two memorandums of understanding (MoU) in the fields of oil, natural gas and mining with Venezuelan officials.
On March 1, Türkiye and Turkmenistan signed an MoU, laying the groundwork for future hydrocarbon collaboration.
On March 7, Türkiye and Somalia signed an intergovernmental agreement to strengthen cooperation in Somalia's oil and gas resources, including both onshore and offshore blocks.
On May 14, Bayraktar and Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Cabbarov signed a comprehensive deal for the capacity expansion of several natural gas pipelines. The deal will facilitate the transport of additional gas volumes from Azerbaijan and the Caspian region to Türkiye and Europe by 2030.
On May 21, China and Türkiye signed an MoU on energy transformation cooperation during Bayraktar's visit to the country.
On June 4, a natural gas supply agreement between Azerbaijan and Türkiye, set to expire in 2024, was extended until 2030.
On June 6, Bayraktar and Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamahmudov signed a protocol on energy transformation cooperation.
On July 17, Türkiye and Niger took a significant step toward energy cooperation, signing a declaration of intent to collaborate on oil and natural gas projects in the country's capital Niamey.
On July 18, Türkiye signed a deal with Somalia for hydrocarbon exploration in three blocks in the Somalian offshore.
On Oct. 11, Serbia and Türkiye signed an MoU for energy transition cooperation.
On Oct. 22, Türkiye and Niger, a mineral-rich African nation, signed an MoU to cooperate on mineral exploration and exploitation.
On Oct. 25, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud officially inaugurated a welcoming ceremony for Türkiye's seismic exploration vessel, Oruc Reis, as it docked at Mogadishu seaport for its mission to explore oil and natural gas off Somalia's coast.
The state energy company also signed several important energy agreements with companies in countries including the U.S., Brazil and Egypt.
On Feb. 15, BOTAŞ and Egypt's Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) agreed to enhance cooperation on natural gas trade, LNG, infrastructure and technical knowledge sharing.
On Feb. 28, the European Energy Exchange (EEX) and the Turkish Energy Stock Market (EPIAŞ) partnered to develop and implement an Emissions Trading System (ETS) in Türkiye.
On March 29, Türkiye's leading LPG supplier, BDY Group, and the global energy trading giant BB Energy signed an MoU to explore a strategic partnership and potential equity transaction.
On May 7, Turkish energy firm Karpowership signed a deal with Brazil's state oil company Petrobras to combine their expertise in the natural gas and energy sectors.
On May 8, BOTAŞ and ExxonMobil signed a cooperation agreement for LNG trade.
On Sept. 2, a strategic agreement was signed between BOTAŞ and Shell, the world's leading oil and natural gas company. As part of the long-term agreement, BOTAŞ will receive 40 LNG cargoes of approximately 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) from Shell over a 10-year period starting in 2027.
On Sept. 18, BOTAŞ and TotalEnergies signed a 10-year LNG agreement. With the agreement, TotalEnergies will supply a total of 16 LNG cargoes of approximately 1.6 bcm per year starting in 2027. BOTAŞ will be able to take delivery of some of the LNG from the filling ports in the U.S. and some from terminals in Türkiye and Europe.
