IICEC REPORT WORKSHOP WITH IICEC CO-CHAIRS AND MEMBERS
ENERGY IMPORT BILLS IN THE CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT OF TURKEY: WHAT CAN BE DONE?”
Turkey has a dynamic economy and there is every reason to believe that the next ten years will see a major expansion of both the economy and of energy used to fuel that growth. This is the very reason for the Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) to produce the report entitled “Energy Import Bills in the Current Account Deficit of Turkey: What Can Be Done?”.
This report is to constitute the first full report by IICEC and will consider the prospective development of the current account deficit to 2023 and the importance of hydrocarbon imports as a contributor to the deficit. Sections of the report will include Turkey’s Energy Supply, Demand and Balance of Payment Issues 2013-2023, Natural Gas, Coal & Lignite, Renewables & Nuclear and Energy Efficiency.
The conclusions are intended to serve as policy recommendations and as pointers towards various options that would enable Turkey to limit the volume, and in some cases the price, of its energy imports and this ameliorate the balance of payments deficit. They will cover the possibilities should policies and/or circumstances change and the consequences if policies do not change. Specific conclusions will be listed in an executive summary.
In this regard, IICEC organized a one-day workshop at Sabancı University Karaköy Minerva Palace to present the report-in progress. The workshop brought together members of the academia and high-level representatives from IICEC Co-chairs and Members, and started with the welcome address of Prof. Dr. Nihat BERKER, President of Sabancı University. The workshop continued with a presentation by B. Nazım BAYRAKTAR, EMRA Senior Energy Expert. During the discussion session all the participants took the floor to deliver their opinions on the main themes in the report and their respective predictions on energy future of Turkey. The workshop was followed by luncheon at Lokanta Maya, Karaköy.
The representatives from local energy sector were Özlem PALABIYIK, Akenerji Strategic Planning Manager; Özgür ŞİMŞEK, Eren Enerji Deputy General Manager; Kenan ŞİRİN, Siemens Energy Sector Head of Marketing and Business Development; Çağatay CENGİZ, SHELL Commercial Manager, and Bora GÜRAY, EnerjiSA Manager.
IICEC core research group members in the meeting were B. Nazım BAYRAKTAR, EMRA; Prof. Dr. Ahmet EVİN, Sabancı University; Dr. Cenk PALA, EnerjiSA Regulatory Affairs and Business Development Manager; Bora GÜRAY, EnerjiSA Manager; Simone TAGLIAPIETRA, Researcher at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, and Dr. M. Doğan ÜÇOK, IICEC Coordinator.
On 27 September, 2014, IICEC core research group briefed Dr. Fatih BİROL, IEA Chief Economist & IICEC Honorary Chairman, regarding the developments of the IICEC Report.
