Turkey plans to invest $125 bln in energy by 2023: Minister

Turkey plans to invest $125 billion into energy by 2023, as the country's energy demands continue to increase tremendously, Turkish Energy Minister Ali R?za Alaboyun said during a speech at the Atlantic Council Energy & Economic Summit in Istanbul, which was officially started on Nov. 19 with a keynote speech by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. 

"Energy demand in Turkey increases 7 percent per annum. To achieve this goal, Turkey is planning to invest $125 billion into the energy sector by 2023," Alboyun said. 

Turkey plans to roughly double its current 72,000 megawatt (MW) energy capacity to 130,000 MW by 2023, he noted, adding the country was planning to diversify its energy mix and was determined to reduce its dependency on natural gas for electricity generation. 

"Although the share of natural gas in our installed capacity is 29 percent, its share in electricity generation is 48 percent. This is a clear indication of our dependency on natural gas to generate electricity," he noted. 
In renewable energy, wind power capacity today is 4,200 MW, while it will be 20,000 MW by 2023, according to the minister. 

"Utilizing the potential of renewable energy is on the top of our agenda," he said, adding that to reduce the proportion of natural gas in the installed capacity, the country was also constructing two nuclear power plants and planning a third one. 

Turkey's first nuclear power plant in the southern district of Akkuyu is planned to come online by 2022, with its second plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop following in 2023, said another Energy Ministry official at the summit. 

The share of coal power plants in Turkey's installed power capacity is 29 percent. Only 50 percent of this capacity...