Turkey offers $130bn in energy investments

Turkey will offer $130bn in energy projects, including nuclear, for the private sector over coming years, to reduce the EU-applicant country’s reliance on imports, Energy Minster Hilmi Guler said yesterday.
The ruling AK Party’s plans to turn Turkey into a regional energy hub by building several multi-billion-dollar transit pipelines to pump oil and gas to Europe from Central Asia.
“It’s $5bn to $6bn investments per year,” Guler told Reuters in an interview. He said the electricity sector alone was worth $105bn out the total $130bn sum.
“It’s a huge amount and we want all the investments done by the private sector, not state companies,” he said. Electricity transmission lines were the only exception, he added.
One of the single biggest projects will be the construction of three nuclear power plants with a total 5,000MW capacity. Turkey’s previous efforts to build a nuclear power plant, stretching back 30 years, failed due to cost, legal issues and opposition from environmental groups.
“Construction of the nuclear power plant will start in 2007, but I don’t want to give a specific date,” he said. The government has previously said it would begin in January 2007.
“We are racing against time,” Guler said.
The government is pressed to find alternative ways to ensure a steady supply of energy for a fast-growing population of 72mn and an expanding industrial base. Economic growth has averaged 8% annually in recent years.

Gulf Times