Energy Market Discussed at "New Balances in Energy" Symposium

At the 'New Balance in Energy' session sponsored by Galata Wind, Turkey's role in the energy market and expectations in this field were addressed by senior executives of Turkey's major energy companies.

The panel, moderated by Global Resources Partnership Board Chairman Mehmet Öğütçü, included SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemistry Business Unit Head Anar Mammadov, Energy Trading Association Board Chairman and Doğan Enerji CEO Burak Kuyan, Doğanlar Holding Board Chairman Davut Doğan, Sanko Enerji CEO Hakan Yıldırım and Zorlu Enerji CEO Sinan Ak.

MAMMADOV: PETROCHEMISTRY'S IMPORTANCE INCREASED WITH THE PANDEMIC, TURKEY IS A MAJOR MARKET

SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemistry Business Unit Head Anar Mammadov, stating that the energy sector was one of the most affected sectors during the outbreak, said, "We went through an unprecedented crisis in history. Supply chains broke, refineries cut production, the sector was negatively affected. However, during this period, petrochemistry products used in the production of many materials, including masks, gained great importance. This situation led us to develop different perspectives to meet our customers' needs. For example, when demand for jet fuel dropped to zero, we converted it 100 percent to diesel, because there was a gap in this area in Turkey. Here we saw the great benefit of the Star Refinery integration. With the Star Petkim integration, we closed production above last year's level. We see the biggest opportunities in the petrochemistry industry, Turkey is a very large and important market in this field," he said.

KUYAN: WE WANT TO BE A VOICE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY GLOBALLY BY 2030

Energy Trading Association Board Chairman and Doğan Enerji CEO Burak Kuyan, committed to having Galata Wind present only in renewable energy, and mentioned that they will invest in alternative renewable energy technologies in the global arena as well. Speaking about growth targets both in Turkey and abroad, he said, "While we aim to grow domestically and internationally with new projects on the renewable energy resources side through Galata Wind Enerji A.Ş., for which we are preparing for public offering, we continue to work on investing in distributed and alternative energy technologies. Our belief in this country will never end, we will continue to make investments. By nature, we focus on sustainability and the future. We have seen that renewable energy is an important element of existence for the future. We operate with the vision of transforming into a globally influential company in this field by 2030."

DOĞAN: WE CONTRIBUTE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BY PRODUCING AND CONVERTING ENERGY FROM WASTE

Although Doğanlar Holding is more known for its activities in the furniture and construction sectors, Doğanlar Holding Board Chairman Davut Doğan noted that energy is a field they love, saying, "Within the framework of Turkey's energy transition, with the banning of thermal power plants, we turned our direction to biogas and biomass. Turkey produces 1 kilogram of waste per capita per day. This means potential to process 80 thousand tons per day. 45 thousand tons are being processed, 9 thousand tons are processed by us. We do not only generate electricity. We have disposal separation revenues. We separate and sell raw materials such as glass, plastic and metal in waste. In addition to energy production, we contribute to industry and the environment with our zero waste project. We have potential to sell water and heat to greenhouses and fertilizer to fields. We are on a path that adopts the concept of integrated fuel production, not just electricity generation," he said.

YILDIRIM: WE HAVE ACCUMULATED STORIES WE WILL BE PROUD OF WHEN WE LOOK BACK

Sanko Enerji CEO Hakan Yıldırım said that if the country wants to create a new balance in energy, greater recourse to common sense is needed. Speaking about how they transformed from their path in the 1990s to supply their own subsidiaries' electricity generation into an energy company operating in many fields such as wind, hydroelectric and geothermal, Yıldırım said, "2020 was a difficult year, but I believe that when we get through this difficult period, we will come out much stronger. In 2020, as energy sector workers, we made great sacrifices to put new energy facilities into operation and keep existing facilities running. Just like healthcare workers, we have accumulated stories we will be proud of when we look back. In the world, the energy sector is shaped around two mega trends: climate change and digitalization. As an institution, we structure our strategies around these two mega trends. We want to become Turkey's largest company with a 100 percent renewable energy portfolio, having completed our digital transformation, with happy employees, the most female employees and managers," he said.

AK: WE BUILT TURKEY'S LARGEST ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING NETWORK

Zorlu Enerji CEO Sinan Ak also spoke about the difficulties of being in the field during the pandemic and how they dealt with them. Ak said: "Our 2,500 employees had to go to work, respond to failures, reach homes during this period. During the pandemic, our top priority was to protect the health of our employees and, if they became ill, to help them recover in the best conditions. For this, we constantly monitored best practices, obtained our certifications and successfully navigated this difficult period from a health perspective. This period was a difficult year to start new investments, so we evaluated 2020 as a year of preparation for investments. Our goal is particularly to grow in geothermal. The world is changing, and we need to adapt to this in every field. For example, we made significant investments in bringing electric vehicles to Turkey, and we built Turkey's largest electric vehicle charging network. In the coming period, we may need 20-30 thousand additional locations. We aim to expand this initiative abroad in the near future."   Source