Energy consumption in Turkey doubled: Minister

Turkey’s energy consumption has doubled within the past 10 years, the Turkish Energy Minister has said, vowing to double it again in the next 10 years.

“In the past 10 years, energy utilization has jumped two-fold thanks to sustainable stability,” Minister Taner Yıldız said while speaking at the opening of the Atlantic Council Energy and Economy Summit today. “We aim to double it within the next 10 years as well,” he added, stating this would require $118 billion of investments to be made.

According to Yıldız, who said Turkey would continue investing in energy as much as needed for the country to keep up with its region’s energy growth, these investments were obligations rather than choices.

“Turkey will continue with a structure that is becoming more liberal, free and privatized and in a way that provides opportunities for international capital within a legal basis,” he said.

Praising Nordic countries for their success in energy investments, Yıldız said all governments and companies were obliged to complete $17.9 trillion worth of investment by 2035 as “there are still 1.3 billion people in the world that haven’t met with electricity or energy.”