Türkiye on Monday expressed its intention to expand energy cooperation with the Gulf region and said energy projects accounted for more than a half of the agreements signed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this month, also noting what it says would turn into an important cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
Agreements with the UAE, estimated to be worth $50.7 billion (TL 1.37 trillion), were signed during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s trip to the Gulf region between July 17-19. Türkiye sought to expand cooperation and signed multiple lucrative deals with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.
The deals with Abu Dhabi covered energy and natural resources development, space and defense cooperation.
The set included $29.7 billion worth of deals covering energy projects, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told an interview with the private broadcaster A Haber. "These are mainly focused on renewable energy, wind, solar, offshore wind energy projects, natural gas, hydrogen and green ammonia production," Bayraktar said.
The minister stressed the high interest of Gulf countries in Türkiye’s energy industry, spearheaded by renewables, noting that Saudi Arabia and Qatar also sought to develop energy projects with the government.
Bayraktar said Türkiye aimed to launch major cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
"We are aiming to realize an important energy cooperation with Saudi Arabia. The amount of it financially has not been clarified. We see that they are interested in a renewable energy project of 4,000-5,000 megawatts (MW)," he noted.
"We want to improve regional cooperation with the surrounding countries both in electricity and natural gas. We also saw that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have requests and demands," Bayraktar said.
Approximately 55% of Türkiye’s installed capacity today comprises renewable energy sources, ranking it 12th globally and fifth in Europe.
The goal of the Türkiye National Energy Plan, announced last February, is to increase the share of renewable energy within the installed capacity to 65% by 2035.
To achieve this, Bayraktar says by 2023, they aim to put into operation some 3,500 MW of solar energy, 1,500 MW of wind energy and 5,000 MW of offshore wind energy every year.
Nuclear power plant projects
Bayraktar also said they aim to start generating power from the first reactor of Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, in 2024.
Türkiye, in late April, gained the status of a country boasting nuclear energy as Akkuyu received the initial batch of nuclear fuel. Built on the Mediterranean coastline, the plant is expected to produce about 10% of Türkiye’s electricity needs once completed.
The three remaining units are due to start operation by the end of 2026, at a rate of one per year, to have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts ultimately.
Bayraktar informed that Türkiye is in talks with China and relevant companies for a potential new nuclear plant planned to be built in the Thrace region, stressing that negotiations had reached a certain level.
Talks are ongoing with South Korea for another plant planned to be constructed in the Black Sea province of Sinop, said the minister. Türkiye earlier held discussions with Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom for the facility.
"South Korea also wants to reflect its relevant experiences on this issue to our country. Our negotiations with them are also continuing. We aim to finalize these in the coming months and start actual work on this issue in the field," Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar also informed that potential cooperation with the United States and the United Kingdom on small modular reactors was also being evaluated.