For the complete report in the Gulf Times click on this link
Turkey offers Euro 101bn ( US$ 130bn) energy investments
ANKARA: Turkey will offer Euro 101 bn(US$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 3.5bn Euro (US $5bn) to 4.7bn Euro (US $6bn) investments per year,” Guler told Reuters in an interview. He said the electricity sector alone was worth Euro 82 (US$105bn) out the total Euro 101 bn (US$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.
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