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2.6 Energy crisis
On January 20, Iran announced that it was cutting its natural gas flow to Turkey due to a technical failure. Turkey’s government-run monopolistic pipeline operator Botas then asked industrial producers to cut their gas consumption by 40%.
On January 22, Turkey’s state-run electricity transmission company TEIAS, another monopolistic enterprise, informed industrial zones that electricity use should be restricted to lighting and heating for a given period of “at least” three days.
Iran’s move is no surprise. It has previously cut gas flows to Turkey during winter months to meet its own demand.
Iranian gas does not account for a big share in Turkey’s gas consumption including for the generation of electricity—such a big energy crisis in the country can thus not be attributed to the Iranian gas cut. Turkey, also mired in a lira crisis, is having to dig deep to find the FX to pay its energy import bills.
Daily gas "entrance capacity" from Iran into Turkey’s gas network stands at 28.5mn m3, equivalent to around 8% of Turkey’s overall entrance capacity of 375mn m3 and around 10% of the record daily gas consumption of 288mn registered in Turkey on January 19.
Why the Turkish government is so willing to switch off industrial production in the industrial zones is causing much conjecture. The problem is not gas contracts, but might instead be related to FX shortages.
In 2012 and 2016, Turkey faced problems with gas supplies. But the government was not then minded to switch off industrial production.
Hydro-electricity plants were hit by drought. But much of Turkey is currently covered in snow. The water retention capacities and electricity production at hydro plants in the country are not so low.
The government, meanwhile, also seems in no hurry to identify available liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes.
On January 26, media reports suggested that Socar Turkey will buy 4mn m3 daily gas from Azerbaijan. Turkey is connected to five pipelines coming from Russia and Azerbaijan but the Turkish government is also not interested in
22 TURKEY Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com