Highlights of Turkish energy market in 2022

By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu and Firdevs Yuksel

IZMIR/ANKARA (AA) – Extended Black Sea gas exploration and drilling operations, accelerated gas supply security efforts amid the global energy crisis, and record-high renewable installations and production marked the top news stories in Türkiye's energy sector in 2022.

This year witnessed Türkiye's accelerated exploration and drilling activities in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea with its three drill ships – Fatih, Kanuni and Yavuz.f

To date, drilling has yielded 540 billion cubic meters of output from the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea. Natural gas flow from the field is expected to reach the processing facility to be established in the coastal town of Filyos in the northern province of Zonguldak in the first quarter of 2023.

As part of this target, the first section of the undersea pipes that will carry the gas from the Sakarya Gas Field was brought to the port of Filyos on Jan. 16.

Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) said on Feb. 3 that it successfully completed all the flow tests in the Turkali-1 well in the Sakarya Gas Field.

The Fatih drill ship started drilling its third exploration well in the Sakarya Gas Field, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez announced on Feb. 16.

On April 8, the Yavuz drill ship set sail for its first operation in the renowned Turkali-2 well and is responsible for upper well work in the field.

With the Phase I completion in the Black Sea, 10 wells will be drilled, and production is estimated to be around 10 million cubic meters per day. Türkiye plans Phase II with the addition of 20 or 25 wells in the field, allowing total production to reach 40 million cubic meters daily.

On April 20, the natural gas mining investment to be made by TPAO in the Sakarya Gas Field was included in the project-based state aid. The projected fixed investment amount was determined as 145.2 billion Turkish liras ($7.7 billion) and additional employment was determined as 1,018 people.

Türkiye started laying underwater pipes for the Black Sea gas project on June 13. A total of 170 kilometers (105 miles) of pipes will be laid at a water depth of 2,200 meters (7,217 feet).

On July 10, the ship "Castorone" began laying underwater pipes in deep waters in the Black Sea following shallow sections.

Donmez announced on Sept. 20 that 140 km (87 mi) of the 170-km (105.6 mi) pipeline in the deep waters of the Black Sea had been completed.

On Sept. 30, a vessel to lay subsea cables for the Black Sea Gas Field arrived in the Bosphorus in Istanbul before it set sail in a few days for the port of Filyos. As part of the work, about 8,000 workers, 30 vessels and eight helicopters have been deployed on both land and sea.

On Nov. 12, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the drilling in nine out of 10 wells that make up the first phase in the Sakarya gas field had been completed.

Donmez announced on Nov. 18 that the construction of the transmission lines on the seabed of the Black Sea had been completed.

- 4th drill ship Abdulhamid Han included in fleet

Meanwhile, Türkiye's fourth drill ship for hydrocarbon exploration, anchored in South Korea, started its journey for Türkiye on March 7. The vessel, with seventh-generation advanced technology, has a maximum operating depth of 3,600 meters (11,811 feet), a tower height of 104 meters (341 feet) and a crew capacity of 200.

The fourth drill ship that will join Türkiye's fleet arrived at the port of Tasucu in the country's Mediterranean city of Mersin on May 19.

A send-off ceremony for the first mission of the Abdulhamid Han took place on Aug. 9 and the ship started drilling in the Yorukler-1 well in the Mediterranean on Aug. 17.

TPAO announced on Dec. 5 that the Abdulhamid Han drill ship had started operations at the Tasucu-1 well in the Mediterranean.

- Energy security efforts: Nuclear projects, gas capacity, storage increases

On Jan. 19, Türkiye's daily natural gas consumption broke a record with a total of 288 million cubic meters per day.

To meet the growing demand for energy and mitigate the effects of global energy crisis, the country stepped up efforts to secure gas supplies, as well as to diversify energy sources with nuclear projects.

The foundation of the fourth reactor of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was laid with a ceremony on July 21.

Rosatom has also started negotiations with Türkiye for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Sinop on the Black Sea coast, Aleksey Likhachev, the director general of the Russian state atomic energy agency Rosatom, said on Oct. 19.

Donmez announced on Oct. 6 that Türkiye and Azerbaijan agreed to double the capacity of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP). "Currently, TANAP carries 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. I hope this capacity will be doubled in a short time, that is, to 32 billion cubic meters," he affirmed.

Operations at Türkiye's Silivri Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility commenced on Dec. 16 with increased capacity. The storage capacity of 3.2 billion cubic meters increased to 4.6 billion cubic meters and the daily production capacity of 28 million cubic meters rose to 75 million cubic meters.

"With the capacity addition, the facility holds the title of Europe's largest storage facility in the seas," Donmez said at the opening ceremony.

The facility will meet all of its electricity needs with a wind turbine with an installed power of 4.2 megawatts, making it the first facility in Türkiye to receive a carbon footprint certificate.

The facility is expected to meet 25% of Türkiye's daily gas needs during intense winter days.

- Türkiye-Algeria to form exploration company for oil, gas

Donmez announced on Nov. 11 that Türkiye and Algeria would establish a joint oil and natural gas exploration company to operate in countries around the region, especially in Algeria.

Both countries reached a consensus on the establishment of a joint company between Sonatrach, the national oil and gas company of Algeria, and Turkish Petroleum, Donmez told Anadolu Agency.

Last year, Algeria and Türkiye embarked on a joint project in the petrochemical field, in which a petrochemical factory was founded in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

The project was initiated in October 2021 with the partnership of Ronesans Holding from Türkiye and Sonatrach.

- Proposal for natural gas trade hub in Türkiye, roadmap preparations

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 12 said Russia is delivering "not great, but presentable" volumes of gas to Europe via TurkStream and suggested making Türkiye the principal route for deliveries of Russian gas to Europe, adding that an energy hub may be built in Türkiye for this purpose.

Putin's proposal to provide the main route for the shipment of Russia's energy resources through Türkiye is technically possible but should be evaluated, said Donmez on Oct. 12.

Meanwhile Putin on Oct. 13 proposed building a natural gas hub in Türkiye in a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Kazakhstan, Putin said building a hub in Türkiye would allow, among other things, regulating prices, selling gas at market prices, "not sky-high," and ruling out "politicization" of the issue.

In the meeting with Erdogan during the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia in Astana, Putin praised Türkiye as "the most reliable partner" for gas deliveries to Europe.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 21 that Erdogan supported the idea and gave instructions to immediately start consultations.

Peskov added that TurkStream is a well-working gas system, and as for building the hub, a lot of questions should be resolved before making a final decision about its construction.

On Nov. 4, Donmez said the ministry had taken steps to establish a gas hub in Türkiye and that they would clarify Türkiye's roadmap by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Aug. 5 that an agreement had been reached on a partial transition to rubles in natural gas trade payments between Türkiye and Russia. The sides were expected to gradually switch to national currencies.

- Renewables: YEKA, wind and solar production records, wind energy investment record

Türkiye achieved a record high annual capacity increase in wind energy in 2021 with the addition of approximately 1,750 MW, according to the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA) data.

A previous record increase in annual wind energy capacity was reached in 2016 with 1,248 MW.

Türkiye's installed total wind power capacity reached 10,750 MW by the end of 2021, with the number of wind energy projects in operation totaling 270.

The country's wind energy investments reached €1 billion ($1 billion) at the end of last year.

While the electricity produced from wind energy in Türkiye reached an all-time high on Nov. 22 with 204,305 MWh, wind power plants ranked first with a share of 25% in production.

Türkiye's geothermal energy capacity has reached 1.67 billion MW with power plants located in six provinces, according to the ministry data on April 23.

Meanwhile, biomass energy has reached a capacity of 2,102 MW with power plants in 73 provinces.

On Aug. 31, Donmez announced that a record had been broken in electricity generation from wind and solar in July, with nearly 4.2 billion kilowatt-hours and 2 billion kWh, relatively. The amount of electricity produced from wind and solar constituted 21.6% of the total production for the first time.

Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) tenders continued to be the main drivers of renewables growth in 2022. The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry declared 59 areas in 32 provinces as YEKA areas based on solar energy on Feb. 3.

The ministry declared 18 areas in 21 provinces as YEKA regions based on wind energy on Nov. 26.

- Domestic oil discovery, production

Türkiye has discovered 150 million barrels of net oil reserves in southeastern Mount Gabar, valued at $12 billion, Erdogan announced on Dec. 12, dubbing the discovery "one of the top 10 onshore discoveries in 2022."

With the discovery, Türkiye's proved oil reserves increased from 450 million barrels to 600 million barrels.

The Turkish president also announced the discovery of $1 billion worth of oil reserves in the Cukurova field in the southern Adana province on June 28.

The quantity of recoverable oil from the field is expected to reach up to 8 million barrels, according to Donmez.

He recalled that just four or five years ago, daily oil production by the state company for drilling and exploration, TPAO, was 37,000 barrels but it has now slightly exceeded 60,000 barrels.

Meanwhile, TPAO broke a record in domestic production by reaching a daily oil equivalent of 62,000 barrels on July 8.

- Amasra mine explosion

At least 41 workers lost their lives in a coal mine blast on Oct. 14 in the Amasra district of northern Bartin province in Türkiye.

The blast is one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the country's recent history. In May 2014, as many as 301 workers were killed at a coal mine blasthas in the Aegean province of Manisa.