No matter what the political or economic problems are, Turkey should continue maintaining its credibility as a country over which energy flows will not be disrupted due to political disputes. Any misuse of Turkey’s energy transit and hub role could diminish its value. Overplaying Ankara’s hand could, moreover, backfire and cast doubt on Turkey’s reliability from a business perspective.
The big risk to power investment is that Turkish consumers could revolt and not pay for all of the decarbonization costs or that the costs could make Turkey uncompetitive. The establishment of a $50 billion “Turkey Energy Investment Fund” should be considered, with political support from the government
At a time when Turkey is enjoying significant international prestige and enjoying investor confidence, such a fund could help bridge the financing gap in Turkey’s 2023 vision energy projects, drawing on resources from domestic, Western, Chinese and Gulf banks, sovereign wealth funds and investors as well as multilateral financial/development institutions.Smarter industries, efficiency improvements and innovation
Turkey should be a pioneer, rather than a follower, in solar, geothermal, wind and hydro energy technologies. With the need to meet the rise in electricity demands, the necessity for the development of sustainable and viable renewable energy sources has reached a greater level of urgency than ever before.
The time has come to move beyond discourse and embrace innovation; Turkey should maximize its technological expertise towards a “smarter” and “cleaner” economy by retooling Turkish industry progressively to compete in a low-carbon economy and move away from energy-intensive and “dirty” sectors, such as iron-steel mills, cement, fertilizer and aluminum.
It is also important to tackle new issues for Turkey’s ageing grid network, which is incapable of integrating large amounts of decentralized energy.
Energy efficiency improvements are the best energy security investment. Turkey should be able to adopt a specific target to reduce the energy intensity of its economy by at least 2.5 percent per year. There is a need to increase capacity, implement robust policies, market-based mechanisms, business models, investment tools, and regulations with regard to energy use and recognize that improvements in energy efficiency remain one of the most effective means of both cutting carbon emissions and improving access to energy.
Hammering out an integrated energy management and vision
If Turkey is serious about reaching its 2023 strategic goals in all sectors, energy has to play a pivotal role in driving its reform and growth engine. Turkey’s energy policy cannot be formulated and treated in isolation from a wider government vision. It is closely related to taxation, environment, competition, industry and investment, trade policies, foreign policy and security strategy and needs to be tackled in an integrated way. Most actions require a timeframe beyond the life of a government. Therefore, a non-partisan government should embrace the opposition, private sector, civil society and international organizations based on shared goals.
Competitive energy markets facilitate the reduction of manufacturing costs, thus slowing down the increase of fuel and energy prices. In this area the government should continue its efforts to resolve the problem of excessive dependence on the supply of gas and oil from one source, remove barriers for changing suppliers of electrical energy and gas, change the operating principles of platforms for trade in electricity and introduce market mechanisms in establishing energy prices.
It is safe to conclude that the global game-changers in energy outlined above, particularly in relation to natural gas, will work to the benefit of Turkey if the right policies are put in place and prompt actions launched to lower energy prices, raise funding from international investors, step up the shift to smarter industries, focus on new technologies and innovation in cleaner energy and pursue “soft” diplomacy in its geopolitical engagement with neighbors.
by Mehmet Öğütçü*
*Mehmet Oğütçü is the chairman of Global Resources Corporation. He is a former Turkish diplomat, senior IEA and OECD executive. He sits on the board of directors for several companies and writes extensively on Turkish and international issues. Mehmet.ogutcu@globalresourcescorp.org
πηγή http://www.anixneuseis.gr/?p=57266
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου