Minister Bayraktar: Major energy project with Eni coming

Minister Bayraktar said at an event held at Venice Palace in Istanbul that Türkiye and Italy have opportunities for cooperation in energy and mining. Bayraktar announced that details of an agreement on a major project with Eni would be announced soon after they are finalized.

Minister Bayraktar said there are significant opportunities for cooperation between Türkiye and Italy in energy and mining at the “Italy-Türkiye Energy Partnership and Business Matching Event” held at Venice Palace in Istanbul.

Bayraktar said political relations between Türkiye and Italy had developed positively, particularly in recent years, and noted that more comprehensive cooperation between countries was needed at a time of growing global crises. He described the partnership between Italy and Türkiye as a positive example of this cooperation.

Bayraktar said the world was facing the biggest energy crisis of modern history, adding that successive crises had created new conditions and that more comprehensive, multilateral partnerships were needed during this period.

Electrification to be at the center of energy strategy

Bayraktar said Türkiye faced three main challenges in the energy sector: rising demand, dependence on external sources and decarbonization. He emphasized that policies addressing these issues would create significant investment opportunities.

Bayraktar said the National Energy Plan 2040 would be announced next week and that electrification would be at the center of the new strategy. He said the aim was to increase electricity use across all sectors of the economy, from industry to buildings.

Bayraktar highlighted the importance of increasing generation capacity, developing transmission infrastructure and using energy efficiently. He said Türkiye's priority was to make maximum use of renewable energy sources.

Bayraktar recalled that Türkiye announced a 120-gigawatt renewable energy target at COP29, held in Baku in 2024, and said a larger and more ambitious target for renewable energy would be announced at COP31. He added that energy efficiency and nuclear power would also be among the key elements of the new strategy.

Agreement being prepared for project with Eni

Bayraktar said Italian energy companies were involved in Türkiye's natural gas production activities in the Black Sea, adding that European Union countries were showing interest in Türkiye as an alternative to Russian gas.

Bayraktar thanked SACE, Italy's official export credit agency, for contributing to the financing of several jointly developed projects. He said Türkiye was also investing in oil exploration and planned to establish cooperation with oil companies.

Bayraktar said one of these companies was Eni and announced that an important announcement concerning Eni would be made soon. Saying he could not yet share details of the agreement, Bayraktar stated that the agreement first needed to be finalized and that the project in question was a major one.

Bayraktar said Türkiye and Italy could establish partnerships not only in the two countries but also in third countries and different regions. In this context, he said partnerships could be established across various regions, from Africa to the Middle East and from the Middle East to Central Asia.

Bayraktar said Türkiye had developed numerous projects, some of which also involved Italian companies, adding that these projects would contribute not only to the security of supply in Türkiye but also to that of Europe and the wider region.