Turkish energy bourse Enerji Piyasaları Işletme A.S. (EPIAŞ) will expand its operations over the next few years and an initial public offering (IPO) may be considered after the expansion, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Wednesday.
Speaking at an Atlantic Council conference in Istanbul on Wednesday, Bayraktar said EPIAŞ, also known as Energy Exchange Istanbul, which currently operates wholesale electricity and natural gas markets, will diversify in coming years.
"We aim to become a carbon-pricing country by 2026, which will be achieved through the establishment of a carbon market within EPIAŞ," Bayraktar said.
The government also wants EPIAŞ to open a commodities market, Bayraktar added.
The minister's remarks follow a recent signing of an agreement between the bourse and Verra, the world's largest carbon credit agency, to enable stock exchange-based trading of approved carbon credits for the first time.
Within the scope of the memorandum inked in the U.S. last month, Verra-certified carbon credits, which represent verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, will be bought and sold on the EPIAŞ platform.
"Not at the moment, but we will see when the operations I mentioned are settled," the minister said when asked by Reuters if an initial public offering was under consideration.
Current shareholders of EPIAŞ are Türkiye's transmission grid operator TEIAŞ, stock exchange Borsa Istanbul and exchange member companies.
Delivering a speech at the two-day conference in Istanbul, Bayraktar also evaluated Türkiye's renewable energy goals, recalling that the country ranks fifth in Europe and 11th in the world in the installed capacity.
He also touched upon the recent liquified natural gas (LNG) deals Ankara has signed with major companies from ExxonMobil and Shell to TotalEnergies, underscoring Türkiye's role in energy supply security.
The minister also highlighted the importance of Greece and Bulgaria expanding the capacity of the existing interconnection natural gas pipeline to boost natural gas exports to Southeast European countries.
“I would like to emphasize that Türkiye is, and will continue to be, actively involved in the investments related to this matter,” Bayraktar said addressing the Atlantic Council Regional Conference on Clean and Secure Energy.
This would make “a significant contribution both to the supply security of this region and to the diversification of gas supply,” he added.
The regional conference on clean and secure energy gathers top government, business, and opinion leaders to discuss the next steps in the clean energy transition, according to its website.
Turkiye, with its geographical advantages, serves as a transit route for natural gas exports from its eastern neighbors to its west. However, the country also aspires to become a natural gas trading hub and a reliable supplier in the region and actively follows policies in this direction.
The Türkiye-Greece Natural Gas Pipeline, spanning 296 kilometers (211 kilometers in Türkiye and 85 kilometers in Greece), began facilitating natural gas exports from Türkiye to Greece in 2007, according to the website of the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ).
Last year, BOTAŞ and its Bulgarian counterpart Bulgargaz began the first gas shipment from Türkiye to Bulgaria under a 13-year agreement.
Türkiye and Bulgaria had signed an agreement on Jan. 3 for the transmission of up to 1.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year. The deal, which covers 13 years, came a month after both countries’ leaders and energy ministers met in Istanbul.
