Azernews.Az

By News Centre

Preparations are continuing for energy policies as part of the revision of Türkiye’s Medium-Term Program (2026-2028). The main objectives of the work are emerging as strengthening security of supply in response to rising energy demand, reducing the energy import bill and ensuring that the electricity system reaches sufficient capacity to accommodate new investments. On the domestic natural gas front, the goal will be to increase production at the Sakarya Gas Field. Daily production at the field is expected to reach approximately 9.5 million cubic meters in 2026, while the commissioning of the new floating production platform Osman Gazi is expected to raise capacity to more than 20 million cubic meters per day. The ministry had previously stated that this level would meet the natural gas needs of approximately 8 million households and correspond to annual production of around 7.5 billion cubic meters. In the next stage, production is expected to rise above 40 million cubic meters per day. This is intended to further increase the share of Black Sea gas in Türkiye’s total natural gas supply and reduce the country’s dependence on imported gas.

Nuclear energy will also be one of the critical areas of the investment package. Türkiye is targeting a total installed nuclear capacity of 7.2 GW by 2035. Following Akkuyu, talks are continuing with countries possessing nuclear technology to advance projects in Sinop and Thrace. Site approval has been granted for the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, while site characterization studies and discussions with supplier countries are continuing for the Thrace project. Work is also underway to establish the legal and technical infrastructure for small modular reactors in Türkiye. Accordingly, the new program is expected to place greater emphasis on expanding incentives that facilitate the financing of nuclear investments and establishing mechanisms to increase domestic participation.

On the renewable energy front, preparations are no longer limited to setting targets but are becoming more concrete through new tenders. Efforts are underway to shorten permitting, zoning, licensing and grid connection procedures so that solar and wind projects can move into the investment stage more quickly. One of the key issues facing the expansion of renewable capacity is the flexibility of the electricity system. Since solar and wind generation varies throughout the day and depending on weather conditions, investments in batteries and other energy storage systems are planned to increase so that more new power plants can be integrated into the grid. At the same time, investments by TEİAŞ are planned to proceed in parallel with the growth of renewable capacity so that new solar and wind capacity can be connected to the system. Investments in critical minerals are also planned to be supported so that the energy transition is not limited to electricity generation alone. Türkiye aims to increase exploration, production and processing capacity for lithium and rare earth elements, as well as boron, copper and other strategic raw materials.