industryterm:energy ministers

Istanbul could face electricity cuts if big investments not made
▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/istanbul-could-face-electricity-cuts-if-big-investments-not-made-

Istanbul could face a serious electricity shortage over the next couple of years unless necessary investments are made, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak told journalists flying with him from Beijing to Ankara after a meeting of G-20 energy ministers.

“If required investments to renew the outmoded infrastructure are not made immediately, Istanbul will face serious power cuts in the next three to five years. We have been carrying large amounts of electricity from Anatolia and the Black Sea region to Istanbul, which poses a big risk,” Albayrak said, daily Milliyet reported on July 4.

He added that the Marmara region, where Istanbul is located, consumes a third of Turkey’s total electricity use.
The government will open new tenders in the upcoming period to gradually increase the use of local coal reserves in Turkey’s electricity production, Albayrak said.

“Some claim that Turkey is turning to coal reserves at a time when the world is turning to renewables. But it should be remembered that the share of the use of coal reserves in Turkey is just 13 percent, which is much lower than the world average of 35-40 percent,” he added.

The energy minister said the aim was to make new coal-fired power plants reach capacities of more than 4,000 megawatts (MW).

The government had recently stated that 85 percent of Turkey’s electricity infrastructure will be modernized over the next five years, with an investment of around 18 billion Turkish Liras.

#Electricité #Turquie #Charbon

Baltics may risk more Russia tension with Europe power grid plan | Reuters
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/baltic-russia-energy-idUKL5N0W75BZ20150414

This week Latvia hosts talks in Riga, bringing together EU energy ministers and the European Commission as it pushes for the strategic goal of increased EU connections by 2020.

But senior officials say the deadline is flexible. Some EU officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, doubted full synchronisation was achievable.

“Our future goal is to change this synchronised operation and to switch to central Europe’s energy system. But, of course, if we speak about this time horizon, it’s approximately 2020, 2025,” Varis Boks, chairman of the board of Augstsprieguma Tikls, Latvia’s transmission system operator, told Reuters.

Taavi Veskimagi, chief executive of Elering, which operates the Estonian grid, said there was “a deep and wide consensus” among the Baltics on the need to synchronise with the European grid, but 2025 was a more realistic date than 2020.

He hoped a transition would be orderly, saying Russia had some 10 years to prepare.

Until now, the Baltics have been part of the BRELL circuit of Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, relying on Russian operators to control frequencies and balance the grid.

Russia’s efforts have focused on trying to make Kaliningrad more independent, with plans for extra generation and Russia’s Gazprom developing gas storage there.

Analysts say Russia has proved a reliable energy supplier in the region, and the political obstacles to a complete shift could be insurmountable.

“The decision to go from Russia’s IPS/UPS system will not only require investing billions of euros in infrastructure and also in generation capacity, but first and foremost political decisions at the highest level,” Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk of the Polish Institute of International Affairs said.

Jordan signs deal with Egypt, Iraq over regional energy venture | The Jordan Times
▻http://jordantimes.com/jordan-signs-deal-with-egypt-iraq-over-regional-energy-venture

Jordan, Iraq and Egypt started on Thursday studying projects to transfer natural gas from Iraq to the Kingdom and Egypt, according to energy ministers of the three countries.

With regard to this, the three countries have started looking into extending an oil pipeline from Iraq’s Basra to Egypt via Jordan’s Aqaba to export Iraqi oil to Africa, they said during a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding.

“We are looking into linking the natural gas fields in Iraq that are being developed to the Arab Gas Pipeline in Jordan. Then, we can provide the commodity to Jordan, Egypt and many other countries that are connected through the existing pipeline,” Iraq’s Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told The Jordan Times on Thursday on the sidelines of the ceremony.

The Arab Gas Pipeline stretches from Egypt to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria.

Under the memo, the three countries will examine extending the $18 billion Iraqi oil pipeline, which will transfer one million barrels of crude oil per day from Basra to Aqaba, to reach Egypt, Egypt’s oil minister, Sherif Ismail, said during a press conference after he signed the memo with his peers.

Rappelons qu’aujourd’hui le pipeline en question traverse #Israël
#gaz_naturel
#pétrole