Antalya MMO Energy panel

Panel on ‘’Hard Facts and Solutions to Current Energy Environment in Turkey'', Antalya, December 3, 2010, Friday 

Dear Colleagues

Turkish Chamber of Mechanical Engineers (MMO) Antalya branch held a panel on Friday, December 3, 2010 at the Chamber’s Headquarter Office Conference room.  The panel was presented by several energy experts and attended by over 200 energy professionals and students in and around Antalya with several attendees from Isparta and the writer from Istanbul. The subject matter was very important and the presenters highly qualified professionals in the energy sector, some traveling from Ankara for the panel.

This was a well presented conference where the state of the energy sector and proposed solution were discussed. The first presentation was by Petroleum Engineer Necdet Pamir, an energy expert and University lecturer. He spoke on ‘’Turkey’s Energy Policies Under the Influence of Global Developments’’. He stated that he wanted to share information on areas that he believes are being neglected in the official arena which may be helpful for the professionals and the general public, especially young engineers attending the conference.

Pamir first made reference to the famous Nabucco Project which was dubbed as the ‘’Project of the Century’’ in 2009 and stated that it was not so, since it will increase Turkey’s dependence on foreign sources of energy. Then he presented an interesting Table with Energy Policy at the center impacted by many other policies, from education to security to environment, nine plus in all.

The second presentation was by Oguz Türkyılmaz, Industrial Engineer and a member of the Board of Directors of Turkish National Committee of World Energy Council and a TAC graduate. He spoke on The View of Turkey’s Energy. Turkyılmaz presented many useful tables on the energy statistics, from installed capacity to yearly generation, comparing the status for 1973 and 2008, indicating the changes over the years. Referring to a Report issued by MMO, Oguz Türkyılmaz stated that many proposed solutions for the energy issues were presented, even challenged the Ministry officials to meet and discuss the issues and the solutions openly, calling it Hodri Meydan.

The third presentation was by Haluk Direskeneli, an energy consultant located in Ankara and the moderator and a frequent contributor the Energy Newsletter Turkey, and  spoke  mainly about the ‘’gas fired power plants in Antalya.’’ ‘’Realities of Turkish Energy Sector and Solutions’’ provided information, both troubling and also with solutions to correct the situation if the officials would listen to them.

The headquarter of Antalya branch of Turkish Chamber of Mechanical Engineers is located in a multi story office complex, owned by the chamber. There is also a library on the second floor where many technical books and magazines are available. The entrance to the building is adorned with a bust of Atatürk with one of his famous sayings:

‘’Calışmadan, yorulmadan, üretmeden rahat yaşamak isteyen toplumlar, önce haysiyetlerini, sonra Hurriyetlerini, daha sonrada Istiklal ve istikballerini kaybederler. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.’’

There is more to write about the panel, but not enough time. It is hoped that the presenters will provide summaries of their excellent presentations and solutions to the issues.

Yuksel Oktay, Energy Consultant, 6 December 2010, Istanbul