Prime Ministry issues notice to accelerate local coal production

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has issued a notice to speed up mainly local coal activities, published in the Official Gazette on Feb. 24. A board to monitor and coordinate energy investments in these areas has also be opened in line with the notice. 

The government had previously defined the acceleration in the use of renewable energy and local coal reserves as a top priority in its 10th development plan, the notice stated. 

"The Monitoring and Coordination Board for Energy Investments was established to monitor, to control and to coordinate the authorization processes for the investments by the public sector or private enterprises in the energy sector, and to accelerate each investment process in all power generation and distribution facilities, which will be built by the private sector through new royalty tenders in the lignite fields," said the notice.

At least one general manager or vice president from the Ministry of Environment and Urban Affairs, the Economy Ministry, the Development Ministry and the Culture and Tourism Ministry, as well as the treasury, the general directorate of state hydraulic works, the investment and promotion agency of the Prime Ministry and the energy watchdog, Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), will be present in the board, which will be headed by the undersecretary of the Energy Ministry. 

According to the 2016 Budget Presentation of the Energy Ministry, Turkey can save around $7.2 billion from its annual energy bill as long as the country's coal reserves are fully realized. 

According to the "Action Plan for the Energy Production Program on Local Resources," which was announced at the end of 2014, and the Energy Ministry's fresh budget plan, the lignite fields will be...