Türkiye has significantly strengthened its energy diversification strategy by broadening both the types of energy it uses and the countries it imports energy from, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Friday.
The strategy has advanced along what Birol described as "two very positive paths."
The first, he said, has focused on diversifying the energy mix as much as possible. "We use oil, natural gas, solar, wind and hydroelectric power, and soon we will be using nuclear energy. There is clear diversification here, and this is a good path," Birol told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The second path, he added, involves reducing reliance on a limited number of supplier countries.
"In the past, there was a concentration. Too much energy was coming from a single country, regardless of who that country was. Now, Türkiye has diversified in that regard as well. It is importing energy from many different countries, which is great news," he said.
The Paris-based agency's chief also stressed the importance of increasing domestic energy production beyond renewables.
"Beyond the renewable energy we already produce, the more different types of energy we can produce domestically in Türkiye, the better it will be for us," Birol said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
Heavily reliant on imports for its power needs, Türkiye is seeking to cut its energy bill and boost supply security by diversifying its energy mix, developing domestic resources and expanding overseas partnerships.
The country currently produces gas from its vast Black Sea reserve and oil from a major reserve in the southeast, has significantly expanded renewable installations and is set to start producing electricity from its first nuclear power plant.
Globally, Birol indicated what he described as major shifts in international relations over the past few months, saying alliances lasting many years were cracking, while new ones are being formed.
Expressing that this transformation brings significant risks, he said, "Currently, the impact of geopolitics on the energy sector is greater than ever. This significantly affects, and seems like it will further affect, the decisions countries make and will make regarding energy."
He noted that geopolitical concerns featured more prominently than climate change and clean energy at this year's Davos meetings.
This shows governments have very urgent concerns, Birol stated. "Foremost among these are defense and security issues. Therefore, climate change and clean energy topics have fallen into the background," he warned.
Birol stressed that current global political tensions would have repercussions across different energy segments, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), nuclear power and electricity, while making countries more cautious in their choice of partners.
On energy prices, Birol said oil is likely to remain at moderate levels this year in the absence of a major geopolitical shock. A similar outlook applies to natural gas, he added, citing a supply surplus in both markets.
Even if a problem arises in any single country, the existing supply surplus can offset a potential disruption, he noted.
"For Türkiye and many other energy-importing countries, this is good news. Prices are likely to remain at reasonable levels this year as well."
