Recently, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Türkiye, Alpaslan Bahitar, introduced his country's vision of energy and mining in 2026. One of his main messages was that Türkiye's goal was to become an active participant in the international energy and mining sectors.
Türkiye aims to put Akuyu nuclear power plant into operation in 2026, for which Russia has provided about 9 billion dollars of new financing, which is expected to be used between 2026 and 2027. It is expected that by 2026, there will be at least $4 billion to $5 billion in foreign financing, "he said. He also mentioned plans to establish a legal framework to encourage investment in small modular reactors (SMRs).
They plan to lay the foundation for the construction of a rare earth element (REE) factory in Eskisehir Belikova in 2026.
The minister pointed out that the production of Sakarya natural gas field will double by 2026, which will meet the natural gas demand of 8 million households in China, about 7.5 billion cubic meters. This will avoid imports worth $3.2 billion, "he said.
We are currently in talks with ACWA, a Saudi Arabian company, for a 5000 MW renewable energy project, of which 2000 MW is planned to be put into operation in the first quarter of 2026. The project includes 2000 megawatts of solar power generation, of which 1000 megawatts are located in Sivas and 1000 megawatts are located in Tasheli. In addition, they are also discussing a solar+energy storage project with another Gulf company, with a total investment of approximately $1.5 billion to $2 billion.
At present, investors have a total energy storage capacity of 33500 megawatts, but only a small portion has been put into operation. In 2026, an additional 2000 MW investment project will be put into use.
Türkiye also plans to establish a carbon trading center and market in its energy market operator EP ∨ A ∨ in 2026.
