Tag: natural gas

Wärtsilä strengthens its presence in Turkey with another major power plant order

Wärtsilä strengthens its presence in Turkey with another major power plant order

* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.

Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:15am EDT

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade &Technical Press release, 12 October 2011

Wärtsilä is a major supplier of electrical generating capacity to Turkey with more than 3 GW of output either in operation or awaiting installation. Approximately 85 percent of these plants are running on natural gas.

Wärtsilä, a leading global supplier of flexible power plants and services to the power generation market, has received a major order for a power plant to be installed in Turkey. The contract has been placed by Yesilyurt Enerji Elektrik Uretim A.S., an independent power producer (IPP).The power plant will supply electricity for the company’s steel mill in Samsun, on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Any surplus energy generated by the plant, will be sold to the national grid.

The intermediate load power plant is expected to be running for more than 6000 hours per year, and will feature eight 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas. The output will be more than 145 MW. However, together with a steam turbine in combined cycle operation, the output will reach 160 MW at full load. The plant is scheduled to be operational by October 2012. The order is included in Wärtsilä’s third quarter order book.

The 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 50SG spark-ignited gas engine is the largest gas powered combustion engine generating set in the world. It reaches an exceptionally high net efficiency rating of more than 50 percent in combined cycle mode. The engine was introduced in the latter part of 2010, and the very first installation was also in Turkey.

Samsun lies on Turkey’s Black Sea coast and is an area where environmental conservation is considered to be of prime importance. For this reason, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ‘A’ category certificate was required before the power plant project could be approved. The Wärtsilä 50SG gas engines, which feature very low levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, fulfilled all the requirements of this ‘A’ category certification.

“This power plant will demand fast start-ups and shut-downs with high part-load efficiency. Wärtsilä’s technology is well proven and fully capable of meeting these requirements. High efficiency with a minimal environmental footprint were prime considerations in designing this project,” says Hikmet Yesilyurt, Executive Member of the Board, Yesilyurt Enerji Elektrik Uretim A.S.

“Wärtsilä’s already strong presence in Turkey is further enhanced with this important order. Smart Power Generation is a key element in meeting the needs of today’s energy markets, and our broad portfolio of gas and dual-fuel engines is central to this concept. We have an unmatched track record in Turkey, and this together with the local sales and service support that we provide, was a major reason for our being awarded this contract,” says Ufuk Berk, Managing Director of Wärtsilä in Turkey.

Wärtsilä has been present in Turkey since 1994 when the first units were delivered. Today, some 330 Wärtsilä engines are already in operation or awaiting installation, producing well in excess of 3 GW of generating capacity. Customers are supported with a strong local sales and service organisation. Wärtsilä operates from two locations in Turkey and employs 128 people. A third service workshop is planned to be opened early in 2012, and this will increase the number of personnel to around 160.

Smart Power Generation

Wärtsilä has pioneered a Smart Power Generation approach to meeting the future needs of the global energy market. In order to provide a reliable and secure delivery of electricity and to balance supply with demand, flexibility in fuel choice and operational requirements is essential. Wärtsilä is a market leader in providing flexible, efficient, and dynamic power generating capacity.

As at the end of 2010, Wärtsilä had delivered 4500 power plants to 168 countries, providing a total of over 47 GW of energy capacity.

via Wärtsilä strengthens its presence in Turkey with another major power plant order | Reuters.

October 13, 2011
Turkey natural gas search stokes tensions with Cyprus

Turkey natural gas search stokes tensions with Cyprus

Row erupts after Turkish ship begins search for hydrocarbon reserves off southern shores of island

Helena Smith in Athens
guardian.co.uk

Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Cypriot and Israeli drilling madness. Photograph: Osman Orsal/Reuters

A feud over the right to tap what could be the world’s biggest discovery of natural gas in years has stoked fierce tensions in the eastern Mediterranean pitting a newly ascendant Turkey against other countries in the region.

With a treasure trove of hydrocarbon reserves thought to lie beneath the sea, the stakes are high: the winner could emerge as an energy broker in charge of Europe’s gas supplies for decades to come.

“If the findings are as big as they say then the power political parameters of the region will shift,” said Hubert Faustmann, a political science professor at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.

“We’re talking about trillions of cubic metres of hydrocarbons worth billions of dollars.”

The row erupted after the divided Mediterranean island instructed a US company, Noble Energy, to begin drilling off its southern shores last month.

It escalated last week after Turkey responded by deploying a seismic research vessel to the same offshore zone with an escort of gunboats.

On Thursday Israel, which has initiated a similar search in its own mineral-rich territorial waters, scrambled F-15 fighter jets to buzz the Turkish ship, according to media reports in Ankara.

Turkey reacted by sending two F-16 planes to chase the aircraft away – heightening tensions between two erstwhile allies whose relations have become increasingly strained since Israel staged a deadly attack on a Turkish aid flotilla bound for Gaza last year.

“A great deal of crisis management has been going on between diplomats behind the scenes,” said Faustmann.

“There has been a lot of militant rhetoric on the part of Turkey, a country perceiving itself more and more as the region’s hegemon.”

Ankara is vehemently opposed to the drilling saying that Cyprus, which is split between Greeks in the south and Turks in the north, should be reunited first. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called the Cypriot and Israeli drilling “madness”.

It is estimated that about 10tn ft of natural gas deposits could lie off Cyprus. Last year Noble announced the discovery of 16tn cubic feet of natural gas in an adjacent field in Israeli waters.

The Greek Cypriot government has mapped out 12 offshore “blocks” for gas exploration, saying ultimately Turkish Cypriots in the island’s breakaway north will also benefit.

“As an internationally recognised state, a member of the UN and the EU, the Republic of Cyprus is exercising its sovereign rights,” said Stefanos Stefanou, a government spokesman.

Turkey, the only country to recognise northern Cyprus, retaliated by signing an underwater exploration agreement with the tiny entity.

Athens, a staunch supporter of the Greek Cypriots, reacted in turn with the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, urging Erdogan to show “calm and self-restraint”.

But with mineral wealth a potentially tantalising unifier and the spectre of an armed standoff also not far away, the dispute has injected new impetus into resolving the island’s ongoing division.

Settlement of the problem has evaded peacemakers for nearly 40 years.

Cyprus has been partitioned since Turkish troops, prompted by a coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece, invaded in 1974.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders are due to report to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, at the end of October in what has been described as a “critical” phase of negotiations.

“This could be a catalyst for the settlement of the Cyprus problem or the dispute that proves to be a spoiler for ongoing negotiations to reunify the island,” said Faustmann.

via Turkey natural gas search stokes tensions with Cyprus | World news | The Guardian.

October 3, 2011
Oil Spike May Take a While to Punish Energy-Hungry Turkey

By Joe Parkinson

Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images An employee made a routine check at a natural gas control center of Turkey’s Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, west of Ankara, Turkey.

ISTANBUL — Pundits in the U.S. regularly bemoan America’s “addiction to foreign oil” — but for a more unlikely energy addict, take a look at Turkey.

Turkey imports 87% of its petrol, 85% of its coal and a whopping 97% of its natural gas, meaning that when energy prices rise, the economy is exposed. So this year’s 20% gain in oil prices propelled by the wave of unrest sweeping the Middle East should have set the alarm bells ringing in Ankara.

But analysts at BGC capital partners say financial pain from spiralling oil is likely to take at least a year to fully feed through to Turkey’s real economy. That gives policymakers here valuable breathing room before national elections scheduled for June. But it also suggests that Turkey’s fast-growing economy could next year face a painful inflation spike and a further deterioration of its gaping current account deficit.

In a research note published Wednesday, BCG calculates that Turkey’s energy addiction cost it $91 billion last year, or 12.4% of gross domestic product. As a consequence, the economy’s dependence on energy imports means that for every $10 rise in Brent crude, Turkey’s growth will be reduced by up to 0.5%.

Turkey’s rapidly growing economy, which expanded 8.9% last year, could perhaps afford a little deceleration. Record low inflation in February and gradually falling unemployment underline the economy’s strong rebound from recession. But BCG research says surging oil prices could next year shock output, stocks and confidence. More troubling for Tukey’s policymakers: a sustained oil spike would further pressurize Turkey’s current account deficit — the achilles heel of the rapidly-growing economy.

Turkey’s current account deficit widened 247% to a record high of $48.6 billion last year as domestic demand boomed and imports dramatically outpaced exports. The swelling deficit has fed market concern that the economy could be exposed to a hard landing if external financing for the deficit dries up; fears that have been magnified by the high ratio of speculative investment, or hot money, used to finance the current account gap, which could quickly flee Turkey if sentiment turns negative.

BCG isn’t the only economic research house warning that spiking oil could aggravate Turkey’s imbalances. Neil Shearing, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics calculates that every $10 rise in the price of oil would add $6 billion — or 12% of the 2010 total deficit — to the funding gap.

But Shearing also stresses that Turkey’s persistently strong economic data is suppressing market concern over the current account, sending stocks rising in recent weeks and pushing the Lira to a near-four month year high on Wednesday.

“Turkey’s one of the big losers from higher oil prices, and everyone knows (the current account) is a risk. Its like we’re waiting for a trigger — I thought the middle east turmoil would be that trigger but it hasn’t been yet,” he said.

Turkey’s policy makers may be hoping for a more benign outcome — where a steadily rising oil price eats into household incomes, gradually helping to rein in booming consumer spending and moderate the current account deficit.

via Oil Spike May Take a While to Punish Energy-Hungry Turkey – New Europe – WSJ.

April 8, 2011
Iran halts gas flow to Turkey to do repairs

TEHRAN Oct 17 (Reuters) – Iran temporarily halted flows of natural gas to Turkey on Sunday for technical reasons, a gas official was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.

“Iran stopped exporting gas to Turkey this morning to carry out some repairs,” Hassan Montazer Torbati, an official of National Iranian Gas Company said. The gas flows would restart soon, he said, without specifying.

The repairs were happening at a plant on the border with Turkey, he said.

Gas flows were halted two months ago due to an explosion on Aug. 24 and restarted on Sept. 25. A similar explosion occurred on July 21 and halted gas exports for 10 days. No explanation was given for either blast.

Guerrillas from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have in the past claimed responsibility for attacks on oil pipelines from Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Iran is Turkey’s second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia, sending 10 billion cubic metres of gas each year. Turkey uses gas to fire half of its power plants. (Writing by Robin Pomeroy)

October 19, 2010
Turkey and Russia Conclude Energy Deals

By SEBNEM ARSU

Published: August 6, 2009

ISTANBUL — Russia and Turkey concluded energy agreements on Thursday that will support Turkey’s drive to become a regional hub for fuel transshipments while helping Moscow maintain its monopoly on natural gas shipments from Asia to Europe.

Turkey granted the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom use of its territorial waters in the Black Sea, under which the company wants to route its so-called South Stream pipeline to gas markets in Eastern and Southern Europe.

In return, a Russian oil pipeline operator agreed to join a consortium to build a pipeline across the Anatolian Peninsula, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and Gazprom affirmed a commitment to expand an existing Black Sea gas pipeline for possible transshipment across Turkey to Cyprus or Israel.

Energy companies in both countries agreed to a joint venture to build conventional electric power plants, and the Interfax news agency in Russia reported that Prime MinisterVladimir V. Putin offered to reopen talks on Russian assistance to Turkey in building nuclear power reactors.

The agreements were signed in Ankara, the Turkish capital, in meetings between Mr. Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who has joined Mr. Putin on several energy projects, attended the ceremony. The Italian company Eni broke ground on the trans-Anatolian oil pipeline this year.

While the offer of specific pipeline deals and nuclear cooperation represented a new tactic by Mr. Putin, the wider struggle for dominance of the Eurasian pipelines is a long-running chess match in which he has often excelled.

As he has in the past, Mr. Putin traveled to Turkey with his basket of tempting strategic and economic benefits immediately after a similar mission by his opponents. A month ago, European governments signed an agreement in Turkey to support the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline, which would compete directly with the South Stream project.

By skirting Russian territory, the Nabucco pipeline would undercut Moscow’s monopoly on European natural gas shipments and the pricing power and political clout that come with it. That may explain why Nabucco, which cannot go forward without Turkey’s support, has encountered a variety of obstacles thrown up by the Russian government, including efforts to deny it vital gas supplies in the East and a customer base in the West.

Turkey and other countries in the path of Nabucco have been eager players in this geopolitical drama, entertaining offers from both sides. Turkish authorities have even tried, without much success, to leverage the pipeline negotiations to further Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, while keeping options with Russia open, too.

“These countries are more than happy to sign agreements with both parties,” Ana Jelenkovic, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, said in a telephone interview from London. “There’s no political benefit to shutting out or ceasing energy relations with Russia.”

Under the deal Mr. Putin obtained Thursday, Gazprom will be allowed to proceed with seismic and environmental tests in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone, necessary preliminary steps for laying the South Stream pipe, Prime Minister Erdogan said at a news conference.

After the meeting, Mr. Putin said, “We agreed on every issue.”

The trans-Anatolian oil pipeline also marginally improves Russia’s position in the region. The pipeline is one of two so-called Bosporus bypass systems circumventing the straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, which are operating at capacity in tanker traffic.

The preferred Western route is the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which allows companies to ship Caspian Basin crude oil to the West without crossing Russian territory; the pipeline instead crosses the former Soviet republic of Georgia and avoids the crowded straits by cutting across Turkey to the Mediterranean.

Russia prefers northbound pipelines out of the Caspian region that terminate at tanker terminals on the Black Sea. The success of this plan depends, in turn, on creating additional capacity in the Bosporus bypass routes. Russia is backing two such pipelines.

Mr. Putin’s offer to move ahead with a Russian-built nuclear power plant in Turkey suggests a sweetening of the overall Russian offer on energy deals with Turkey, while both Western and Russian proposals are on the table.

The nuclear aspect of the deal drew protests. About a dozen Greenpeace protesters were surrounded by at least 200 armored police officers in central Ankara on Thursday.

Andrew E. Kramer contributed reporting from Moscow.

The New York Times

August 7, 2009