While Turkiye has been commissioning Floating LNG Storage and Regasification Units along with liquefied natural gas terminals for natural gas supply security in recent years, it aims to increase its storage capacity to 13.4 billion cubic meters by the end of 2028.
Approximately 50-60 billion cubic meters of natural gas is consumed annually in Turkiye to meet the heating and electricity needs of residences and free consumers. In order to meet the consumption in question and ensure supply security, investments continue at full speed to strengthen the liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply infrastructure as well as pipelines.
In this context, in addition to pipelines from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan, Floating LNG Storage and Regasification Units (FSRU) and LNG terminals, which are important components of the natural gas infrastructure, enable the supply of natural gas from different sources and countries.
Turkiye, which can supply LNG from a wide geography from Algeria to America through these facilities, further strengthens its energy supply security with spot and long-term contracts. The gas supplied through pipelines is liquefied in these facilities and sent to various European countries by tanker ships in the form of LNG.
Many LNG processing facilities have been commissioned
Following the Marmara Ereglisi LNG Terminal, which was first commissioned in Tekirdag in 1994, Turkiye has also built the Egegaz LNG Terminal in Izmir in the last 30 years. Turkiye has commissioned three FSRUs and two LNG processing facilities: Ertugrul Gazi FSRU in Hatay Dortyol, Saros FSRU in the northeast of the Aegean Sea and Etki Liman FSRU in Izmir. Turkiye is among the world’s leading countries in this field with the capacities of these facilities.
Storage facilities also came into operation
In addition, storage facilities that support supply security in delivering natural gas to the final consumers, residences and eligible consumers, have also come into operation. Turkiye’s Silivri Natural Gas Storage Facility with a capacity of 4.6 billion cubic meters, which was put into operation in 2007, and the Tuz Golu Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility with a capacity of 1.2 billion cubic meters, which started operating in 2017, also play an important role in this sense.
It is aimed to increase the capacity of the Tuz Golu Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, one of the facilities with a total gas storage capacity of 5.8 billion cubic meters, to 8.8 billion cubic meters by 2028 with the expansion works, thus reaching the total capacity to 13.4 billion cubic meters.
The energy fleet will continue to grow
Aiming to meet its natural gas needs with domestic resources, Turkiye has established a strong energy fleet with high technology for seismic and drilling activities in recent years for natural gas and oil exploration at sea.
In this context, Turkiye has commissioned Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni and Abdulhamit drilling ships and Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa and MTA Oruc Reis seismic exploration ships in recent years.
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, in his statement in November, stated that the fleet in question, which currently combs Turkiye’s seas inch by inch, will be enlarged.
In this context, it is planned to add a floating production, storage and evacuation (FPSO) ship to the fleet, which will be able to produce at sea.
An adventure spanning nearly 40 years in natural gas
Turkiye expands its natural gas network every year within the scope of efforts to expand the distribution infrastructure of the gas supplied throughout the country.
Turkiye, which is among the important countries in Europe in terms of natural gas supply and consumption volume, has left behind an adventure of up to 40 years in the use of natural gas in residences.
Following the agreement signed by Turkiye with the governments of the former Soviet Union on natural gas shipment in 1984, residences were introduced to natural gas for the first time in 1987.
Gas coming via the Russia-Turkiye Natural Gas Pipeline, also known as the Western Line, was made available to Ankara in 1988, to Istanbul and Bursa in 1992, and to residential and eligible consumers in Izmit and Eskisehir provinces in 1996.
While natural gas, which was used in only 6 cities in the early 2000s, has spread to 793 districts in 81 provinces today, it is aimed to add 44 new settlements to the districts using natural gas next year, 24 in 2025 and 52 in 2026.
Number of subscribers: 20 million 268 thousand
The number of subscribers in Turkiye, which is at the top of the list of countries with the most natural gas subscribers in Europe, increased to approximately 20 million 268 thousand as of September, including 19 million 522 thousand in residences and 746 thousand in eligible consumers.
Istanbul ranks first with 5 million 703 thousand 882 subscribers, followed by Ankara with 2 million 15 thousand 304 subscribers, Bursa with 1 million 89 thousand 696 subscribers, Izmir with 945 thousand 20 subscribers, Kocaeli with 712 thousand 996 subscribers, and Konya with 584 thousand 41 subscribers.
While Istanbul ranks first in the number of free consumers with 245 thousand 440 subscribers, this city is followed by Ankara with 94 thousand 424 subscribers, Bursa with 31 thousand 929 subscribers, Konya with 25 thousand 652 subscribers and Kocaeli with 21 thousand 227 subscribers.
Source: Trthaber / Prepared by Irem Yildiz