E-Newsletter

Turkey has secured a $1.2 billion loan in total to expand the Gas Storage Expansion Project in Tuz Gölü (Salt Lake) in Central Anatolia.

During a press meeting in Ankara on June 27, BOTAŞ General Manager Burhan Özcan said the loans were secured from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with highly advantageous repayment conditions and lower interest rates.

On the same day, the AIIB said its board of directors approved a $600-million loan for the project to increase the reliability and security of Turkey’s gas supply.

“The project will raise the capacity of the Tuz Gölü underground gas storage facility by 4.2 billion cubic meters [bcm] per year—from 1.2 bcm to 5.4 bcm—and will help improve Turkey’s energy security and reduce the carbon intensity of the power supply,” the AIIB said in a statement.

On May 22, the World Bank said its board of executive directors approved a $600 million loan for the Gas Storage Expansion Project in Turkey.

The gas storage facility now has a storage capacity of 550 million cubic meters.

During the press meeting, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said the government aimed at raising this capacity to 5.4 bcm before 2023.

“With another facility in the northwestern district of Silivri, we will raise Turkey’s total gas storage capacity to 10 bcm,” Albayrak said.

The project is composed of 12 wells. From each well, a total of 40 million cubic meters of gas can be pumped into the country’s gas network on a daily basis.

The drilling of the first of the project’s 12 wells began in 2012 by state-run gas grid BOTAŞ and a Chinese company

Kaynak: Hurriyet Daily News

- Mergers and acquisitions in Turkey's natural gas distribution sector are likely: Head of Turkey's energy watchdog

Mergers and acquisitions throughout Turkey are on the cards in the natural gas distribution sector, the head of Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) said on Friday.

In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Mustafa Yilmaz said that EMRA issued a new regulation to scrap the previous maximum limit of two regions in which a natural gas company was allowed to distribute gas.

"As a result of our regulation, we expect positive outcomes to reach a more integrated and productive natural gas distribution market. Therefore, mergers and acquisitions can take place among the [distribution] companies" Yilmaz said.

According to EMRA's data, 68 natural gas companies distribute natural gas to 12.4 million subscribers across Turkey.

Yilmaz explained that the new regulation would allow for more economies of scale, reduce costs and avoid time wastage while increasing efficiency in the natural gas distribution chain in Turkey.

In addition, Yilmaz also commented on a further regulation for the fuel sector instigated by EMRA to increase the minimum-blending limit of biodiesel in diesel oil to 0.5 percent.

According to Yilmaz, EMRA determined the 0.5 percent biodiesel limit by taking into consideration two variables - "environmental awareness" and "by increasing the consumption of domestic products".

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel similar to conventional or ‘fossil’ diesel. Biodiesel can be produced from straight vegetable oil, animal oil/fats, tallow and waste cooking oil. Biodiesel has many environmentally beneficial properties. The main benefit of biodiesel is that it can be described as ‘carbon neutral’. This means that the fuel produces no net output of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2).

"Energy importation is the biggest factor on Turkey's current account deficit. Domestic biodiesel blending with diesel oil will allow the use of more domestic resources. However, we have to act responsibly with regards to agricultural production [to produce biodiesel]. Therefore a sub-limit of 0.5 percent is just the beginning and it could rise to a 5 percent level in the future," Yilmaz said.

"There is no restriction to add more biodiesel right now but 0.5 percent is a minimum level," Yilmaz added.

Kaynak: AA

Boğaziçi Elektrik Dağıtım A.Ş. (BEDAŞ), Akdeniz Elektrik Dağıtım A.Ş. (AEDAŞ) and Çamlıbel Elektrik Dağıtım A.Ş. (ÇEDAŞ) operating within the Cengiz and Kolin Group, started the "Energy Stars" project with the aim of acquiring the quality human resources needed in the sector.  BEDAŞ, AEDAŞ and ÇEDAŞ signed the professional cooperation protocol with the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education of the Ministry of National Education in order to reach the quality human resources needed in the sector on Wednesday June 27 in a period when Energy 4.0 along with Industry 4.0, is on the agenda and this was an important milestone for the Energy Stars project. Osman Nuri Gülay; General Director of Vocational and Technical Education of the Ministry of National Education and Arzu Hatice Atik; Member of the Board of Directors of AEDAŞ, Murat Yiğit; General Manager of BEDAŞ and Ahmet Sait Akboğa, General Manager of ÇEDAŞ were also at the signing ceremony of the professional cooperation protocol   that aims to meet the deficit of qualified personnel in the High Voltage field.

High voltage laboratory for three vocational and technical Anatolian high schools

Within the scope of the project, by selecting three Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools in the European side of Istanbul, Antalya and Sivas, the establishment of a High Voltage Laboratory is planned. For this purpose, İnönü Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Istanbul Bayrampaşa, Kepez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Antalya and Atatürk Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Sivas were selected as pilot schools. In these schools, the 10th grade students will be able to choose the High Voltage field in their next semester. Thus, about 100-120 students will be able to receive training in the laboratory.

Internship at the 3 companies and scholarship

Students studying in the High Voltage field will also have the internship opportunity to practice at AEDAŞ, BEDAŞ and ÇEDAŞ. A scholarship of TRY 500 per month will be provided for at least 30 most successful students. In addition, students will receive employment guarantees as long as they receive scholarships. During the training, the managers of the three distribution companies will transfer their knowledge and experience and mentor the students in private lessons. Managers will have a special training before mentoring. Teachers who teach in the field of High Voltage will also be given practical training.

The unfavourable high voltage field now meets the EU standards

Because of the high material prices and lack of sufficient support from the sector, the High Voltage Field, which is not usually preferred in the electricity department of the vocational high schools, will be reintroduced into the education system thanks to this project. The students who prefer the High Voltage Field with the laboratories to be set up in compliance with the standards of European Union countries will be taught all the steps from electricity generation to transmission and distribution. Thanks to the project which creates a solution for the qualified personnel need of the sector, the graduate students who are trained in line with the demand of the sector will also be preferred for this high risk field as they have received the training on occupational health and safety and will take their first steps of the sector safely.

Enerjisa Distribution Companies  were deemed worthy of the first place award in the "Best Customer Service" category, by the international Best Business Awards organization.

Enerjisa Distribution Companies have registered their achievements in customer relations on the international scene as well at the Best Business Awards, which is one of the most important organizations in the UK, where many leading companies are evaluated.

We continue to have human oriented approach

General Manager of Enerjisa Distribution Companies Murat Pınar stated that they attach great importance to create service and solutions in all areas by touching the clients with a multichannel structure. By emphasizing the customer-oriented approach of Enerjisa Distribution Companies, Pınar highlighted that “We aim not only to diversify the tools we touch the lives of 20 million people in Ayedaş, Başkent and Toroslar region, but also to increase our service quality in existing channels. In our call-centers with 800 agents, we listen our customers with the connection speed under 20 second. We put to use digitalization in all our processes and have integrated channel administration. We gather the requests coming from call centers, social media and mobile application under a single roof with an aim of excellence. We are honored by receiving an award from an international business representatives jury. This award is also a sign for us that we are progressing in the right direction.”

Navigant Research forecasts revenue for commercial, energy efficient HVAC technologies market to reach $61.2 billion in 2027.

The research firm predicts revenue generation within the market to increase from $29.4 billion in 2018, owing to current regulation supporting commercial building owners to adopt smart controls, enabling intelligent management and building operations.

Courtney Marshall, research analyst of Navigant Research, said: “These technologies support Energy Cloud platforms such as Building-to-Grid, Transportation-to-Grid, and Smart Cities.

“Efficient HVAC technologies enable connections to the grid and commercial buildings by optimising equipment operations, all while maintaining comfort for their building occupants.”

Energy efficient technologies are expected to follow IoT trends, grid connectivity markets.

These trends will offer increased energy and demand savings through building optimisation, to support the global shift to renewable or clean energy resources.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to dominate the market, with an anticipated revenue growth of $39.3 billion by 2027, whilst Western Europe is expected to reach over $12.1 billion.

The energy efficient technologies include unitary systems, heat pumps, furnaces, boilers, variable refrigerant flow systems, chillers and geothermal heat pumps.

Kaynak: Metering

Japanese electric utility, Take Energy Corporation, has partnered with Electrify to deploy a peer-to-peer energy trading platform in Kyushu.

The blockchain platform will allow consumers to trade excess solar energy from the region’s solar farms.

The blockchain comprises Electrify’s SYNERGY and Powerpod platforms

Powerpod willl collect information about power production and consumption between solar producers and consumers.
SYNERGY will use data provided to enable comparisons between the amount of energy generated by the solar farms, the prices offered and market demand.
The agreement between the utility and Electrify will see Take Energy’s subsidiary Kumamoto Electric Power deploying the same platform.
The news follows Electrify signing an agreement to deploy the technology in partnership with TEPCO.

The agreement with TEPCO and Take Energy mean the company’s blockchain platform will cover two out of eight regions in Japan and potentially serve over a third of the Japanese population across central and southwestern Japan.

The projects are expected to help Japan achieve its solar and renewable energy goals.

Kazuma Takemoto, CEO of TEC, said:  “Electrify has progressed very significantly in the development of their blockchain platform.

“We are very keen to work with Electrify to realise P2P energy trading in Kyushu.”

Martin Lim, COO and Co-Founder of Electrify, added:  “This partnership with TAKE Energy furthers our goal of democratising energy markets around the world and empowering consumers with the ability to track and identify their source of power. This will create savings and efficiencies in energy costs for generation companies, retailers, and consumers.

“Japan is a very important market for us, with more than 400 electricity retailers across the country following deregulation of the market in 2016. We see this as a market that will help us in our global expansion plans and also in Singapore when the market is deregulated at the end of the year.”

Kaynak: Metering

The World Energy Outlook is the gold standard of long-term energy analysis. The 2018 edition provides updated analysis to show what the latest data, technology trends and policy announcements might mean for the energy sector to 2040. It also outlines an integrated way to meet multiple sustainable development goals: limiting the global temperature rise in line with the Paris Agreement, addressing air pollution, and ensuring universal access to energy.

These points of orientation allow for rigorous thinking about the future against a backdrop of cost reductions in key clean energy technologies, the continued vitality of shale in the United States, and the fast-changing dynamics of energy investment.

This year’s Outlook includes a special focus on two critical areas:

Electricity: The future is electrifying, with low-carbon technologies on the rise and electricity demand set to grow at twice the pace of energy demand as a whole. But what will tomorrow’s power sector look like? How will it incentivise investment and ensure reliable supply, and what share of our total energy needs can ultimately be met by electricity? 

Producer economies: How are traditional oil and gas-exporting countries adapting to today’s new price and policy environment, and what might be the implications for these economies of longer-term structural changes in demand?

The 2018 World Energy Outlook also examines how innovation can improve the environmental performance of different sources of oil and gas, and extends our ground-breaking Sustainable Development Scenario to include the linkages between energy and water.

Kaynak: IEA

UK Power Networks will create a virtual power station in London to ensure grid reliability.

The utility is partnering with Powervault to implement the initiative.

The virtual power system will be powered by solar panels installed on consumer homes.

The system will enable consumers to generate their own electricity, store it on battery energy storage systems and sell it to the energy provider during times when demand on the main grid is high.

This means consumers will be able to reduce their bills by avoiding peak demand tariffs, as well as generate extra revenue by selling their electricity.

The project is the first to develop a virtual power system in London and falls under efforts to support the Mayor’s ambition to make London the world’s leading smart city.

Some energy storage batteries will be installed in approximately 40 households across the London Borough of Barnet.

The project will include integrating them with a software which will enable remote control of the combined storage and solar generation systems.

The project fits under UK Power Network’s ‘A Smart Grid for All’ programme, which seeks to employ innovative business solutions to expand the utility’s smart energy portfolio, as well as reduce consumer bills whilst improving services. The project launched in 2017 aims to improve consumer energy management.

Barry Hatton, director of asset management at UK Power Networks said: “We are committed to harnessing new technology to deliver direct benefits to our customers. Our plans to create the capital’s first ever ‘virtual power station’ are paving the way for a smart, flexible electricity network that puts people in charge of their energy use.

“London is a world-leader in technology and projects like this are just the start as we move towards a decarbonised, decentralised and digitised network that will offer significant benefits to our customers. It will help to keep down electricity distribution costs by providing a viable alternative to the traditional approach of simply adding more cables and substations to increase capacity.”

The agreement follows a successful trial of the technology with UK Power Networks in February 2018. During the trial, 45 Powervault batteries installed in customer homes were remotely controlled to minimise consumption during evening peak hours. On average, household evening demand was reduced by 60%.

Joe Warren, managing director of Powervault, said: “This is a really exciting development for our business and we’re delighted UK Power Networks has chosen to work with us. A payment for supporting the local networks, on top of the savings from solar and time-of-use tariffs, will enhance the business case for our customers, moving us a step closer to our goal of delivering a mass-market product as commonplace as a dishwasher. It also proves the value of domestic battery storage to the whole energy system. We think this contract is just the first step in what will be a huge growth area.”

Kaynak: Metering

Utilities and Electric Vehicles - EVOLVING TO UNLOCK GRID VALUE

Over the past several years, questions have arisen surrounding the role of electric utilities in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market. As regulators make critical decisions in the coming years, they should be mindful of the central role utilities will play to minimize the potential grid impacts of this new load and increase access to important charging infrastructure.

Please click here to read the full report.