Energy tenders to be held as scheduled, vows minister
Posted by meb at July 9th, 2008
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Güler has pledged that there will be no postponements in the scheduled tenders for energy generation projects, particularly in the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
The government is aiming to conclude tenders for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in the provinces of Akkuyu and Sinop by the end of 2008. However, there had been some question as to whether the tenders would be rescheduled to dates in 2009. In response to these questions, the minister noted, “All energy privatizations will be held on the previously announced dates.”
There are certain groups, mainly environmental organizations, that want the government to abandon its plans to build nuclear plants, which they think present too great a risk to people and the environment.
Speaking in Ankara yesterday at a press briefing on the activities of the Electricity Production Corporation (EÜAŞ), Güler noted that the privatization of thermal power plants is at the top of his ministry’s agenda in the short term. Soon after Parliament passes a law to amend the Electricity Market Law, setting forth the regulations of sales of these state-run power plants, the government will initiate the sale process, the minister said.
EÜAŞ currently owns and runs 108 dams and 18 thermal power plants across Turkey and is responsible for generating almost half of Turkey’s energy. The minister said the state company has so far invested $630 million to install filters for the purification of sulfur emissions from thermal power plants. Another $1 billion will be spent on these plants, he added.
Only 35 percent of the total capacity in EÜAŞ’s power plants was being utilized when the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power six years ago, but today this number has grown to 74 percent, Güler stated. He noted that the increase in capacity utilization was largely thanks to an increase in productivity.
He also mentioned the rising consumption in Turkey in parallel to the rapid growth. Turkey’s electricity consumption is increasing around 8 percent a year, he noted. In some cities, particularly in Antalya, this increase has surpassed 20 percent, he added. In comparison, the electricity consumption in Europe is rising at a very slow pace, around 1 percent per year, Güler said, adding that these figures have carried Turkey to second place after China in the rate of increase in consumption of natural gas and electricity.
Answering a question on what measures his ministry will take to deal with the deficit in electricity generation next year due to the diminishing water levels at hydroelectricity power plants, the minister said the first alternative they will employ is wind energy. The established capacity of wind energy in Turkey was only 17 megawatts (MW) when the AK Party first came to power in 2002, he noted, adding that this figure will have reached 475 MW when certain projects are completed at the end of this year. The target for 2013 in terms of established capacity in wind energy is 5,000 MW, the minister said.
Turkey currently produces half of its electricity from natural gas power plants. One-fourth is being generated from coal plants, while hydroelectricity plants produce most of the remainder. Renewable energy resources, despite growing utilization, are still at negligible levels in terms of their contribution to total electricity production. Güler said his ministry is determined to equally distribute total electricity generation between five main resources: natural gas, coal, water, renewables and nuclear.
source: Today’s Zaman
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