Türkiye seeks to ramp up cooperation with the World Bank on energy transition and clean energy projects, the Turkish energy and natural resources minister said during a joint workshop held on Wednesday.
In his opening remarks at the World Bank-Türkiye Energy Transition Workshop, Alparslan Bayraktar expressed his country’s readiness to collaborate with the World Bank and its private investment arm, International Finance Corporation, as well as other organizations to increase Türkiye’s installed energy capacity, establish concrete targets and implement various projects.
Bayraktar underlined Türkiye’s aim to ensure energy supply security and reduce dependency on imports and said that well-defined strategic steps need to be implemented and rigorously managed to ensure a successful energy transition.
He noted that renewable energy, hydrogen, natural gas and nuclear energy have an important role in energy transition.
In order to turn energy projects into actual investments, Bayraktar said the country needs to upgrade its electrical grid.
The country already has plans to invest approximately $10 billion in the next 10 years to improve and strengthen the country’s transmission system, he added.
Bayraktar also said the country plans to increase its interconnection capacity with its neighbors.
‘Currently, we have 700 megawatts of interconnection with Georgia, but we need to increase the existing capacities with our neighbors, including Bulgaria and Greece,’ he said.
Bayraktar also said that financing was one of the most important issues to move forward with investments.
The country holds great promise in the energy sector, but most allocated capacities are awaiting permits, Bayraktar said adding that improvements are planned in the permit processes to shorten standby time.
Bayraktar added that they also aim to improve cooperation in the field of critical minerals and green hydrogen with the World Bank.
