The sixth edition of “Energy and Climate Forum,” organized by Türkiye’s leading media group and Daily Sabah’s parent company, Turkuvaz Media, was held Thursday with the participation of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, addressing all aspects of the energy sector, with particular emphasis on renewable energy.

Bayraktar said Türkiye’s “national energy and mining policy” would be a “game-changer.”

“If energy imports are the main cause of the current account deficit, we have to concentrate on resolving this issue and reduce Türkiye’s dependence abroad. This is our main goal,” he told the summit.

Bayraktar stated that they made a deal with Turkmenistan for delivery of the latter’s natural gas exports to Türkiye and Europe via Türkiye.

“This has been on our agenda for quite some time and the circumstances are suitable now. We were pleased that Turkmenistan was eager about the deal. We have three alternatives for the supply of Turkmen gas, including supplies via Iran through a swapping deal and via Iran and Azerbaijan, again, by swapping. A third, more sustainable way is establishing a trans-Caspian pipeline. All options are on the table,” he said.

A memorandum of understanding and a letter of intent on natural gas cooperation were inked during the recent Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Among other topics, the minister touched upon the commissioning of the first reactor of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, reiterating their target of doing it this year.

The forum titled “Green Century” saw several panels held throughout the day with leading figures of the sector making significant evaluations on topics such as the EU Green Deal, Türkiye’s position in the electric vehicle market, renewable goals, sustainability and reducing carbon footprints.

Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) joining the forum via video conference, in his speech titled “Building a Safer Future with Renewable Energy,” touched upon the goals for energy efficiency in upcoming years.

“I believe that tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 is the most realistic corrective action route for renewable energy to comply with the Paris Agreement. According to the IRENA World Energy Transition Outlook 2030 Report, there needs to be significant momentum in the widespread adoption of renewable energy, energy storage and renewable fuel usage worldwide,” he said.

One of the panels also saw the participation of industry actors, including Alpay Beyla, CEO of RHG Enertürk Enerji; Murat Pınar, CEO of Enerjisa; Ibrahim Sinan Ak, CEO of Zorlu Energy; Elchin Ibadov, CEO of SOCAR Türkiye and Halil Demirdağ, chairperson of the board of Smart Güneş Teknolojileri.

As part of the evaluations, Pınar emphasized the role of the energy sector in sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint in recent years while also mentioning their efforts in rebuilding the infrastructure in the earthquake-quick region.

“The earthquake also deeply affected Enerjisa. Now we are talking about rebuilding cities. We invested TL 2 billion ($62.8 million) for Hatay’s future, including both transformer and capacity rights and energy transmission. We have planned TL 8 billion of investment over the next three years.”

“We are progressing rapidly. Our government has also taken serious steps. Twice as much investment made until now needs to be made by 2030-2035. The state has fulfilled its duty. Foreign investors also have serious demands,” Ak said for his part.

“In the next two to three years, I see a serious transformation in renewable energy,” he added.

Beyla, meanwhile, also drew attention to their renewable energy goals.

“Energy efficiency and the current state of renewable energy are very good. When you talk to investors about ‘green bond’ issuance on the London Stock Exchange today, you can find a response. The investor looks at what our country has done in the past five years, then years. When they look at this, they see what Türkiye has achieved. And the investor sees how suitable an area Türkiye is for this,” he explained.

“I am very hopeful about direct investments,” he said.

Noting that 2035 is a very important period for renewable energy in Türkiye, Beyla said, “Two million electric vehicles is not a dream. When you say one socket for every 10 vehicles, we will provide 200,000 public charging points in Türkiye. This is an investment of $1.5-$2 billion,” he said.

Moreover, the forum addressed the panels discussing the potential in solar and wind energy sector and hydrogen’s role as a clean source.

One of the panelists at “New Investment Areas and Opportunities in Renewable Energy,” Karadeniz Holding Commercial Operations Director Emre Durmuşoğlu said, “Currently, with an installed power of 6,000 megawatts (MW) in the world, we have a total of 10,000 MW capacity of energy in powerships, 4,000 megawatts of which are under construction.”

“We also provide electricity in Africa, Latin America and Oceania. We currently have nearly 4,000 MW ships under construction in our shipyard in Yalova. We will continue to fly the Turkish flag on our ships,” he said.