New vessel joins Türkiye’s fleet as Black Sea project nears first gas

Türkiye’s government and its national oil and gas company TPAO are now on the brink of sending a vessel, which recently joined its fleet, on its first mission to carry out operations on the seabed in preparation for the first gas from a giant natural gas project in the Black Sea.

Fatih Dönmez, Türkiye’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, revealed on Friday, 20 January 2023, that a new vessel, named Mukavemet – which means Strength – had joined Türkiye’s fleet and completed its preparations to participate in operations at the Sakarya gas field project development in the Black Sea. This vessel will kick off its first underwater operations in February 2023. The first gas from the Sakarya field is expected in 1Q 2023, most likely in March.

Furthermore, while explaining that many works are being carried out offshore as well as onshore, Dönmez underscores that Türkiye needs “special ships with special qualities. This vessel, which we call Mukavemet, has joined our fleet to carry out operations on the seabed.” 

The newest addition was named after the Turkish Resistance Organisation. The vessel is anchored in Filyos port. As a construction support vessel (CSV), Mukavemet will be used for subsea operations and it allows for more than two robots to be operated simultaneously. This vessel is approximately 100 metres long and 21 metres wide.

According to Dönmez, who met with Melih Han Bilgin, General Manager of TPAO, at the Filyos natural gas processing facility to get information about the recent progress and check out the Mukavemet vessel, the natural gas project in the Black Sea will be one of the key factors in Turkey’s energy independence story. At the time, Dönmez said that they came to Filyos to inspect the operations at frequent intervals while the work at the Sakarya gas field was progressing at full speed.

Dönmez claims that three of TPAO’s drillships “continue their operations.” While noting that the drilling and well completion works have been finished to a large extent and the progress rate in the operations on the seabed has reached the level of 90 per cent, Dönmez reminded that the pipelines, which the country started laying down in June 2022, were completed last year to connect the processing facility and the subsea production facility.

This work was undertaken as the Sakarya gas development project entails the establishment of a subsea production facility at a depth of 2,200 meters, 170 kilometres north of Filyos, the construction of a gas receiving and processing terminal on the Filyos shore, and the construction of pipelines to connect two units onshore and offshore.

As a reminder, after bringing in the country’s first drillship, Fatih, in 2017, Yavuz in 2018, and Kanuni in 2020, TPAO bought its fourth drillship, Abdülhamid Han, in 2021. The fourth drillship left South Korea in March 2022 and reached Türkiye in May 2022. The drillship was sent on its first drilling mission in the East Mediterranean in August 2022.

Dönmez further explained: “We were here last night, we went to the field. We also met with our colleagues. The number of employees is increasing every day. We have 7,300 employees for onshore operations. We are performing these operations with a total of 9,500 people, out of which 2,200 work offshore.

“This project will be one of the most important actors in Turkey’s story of energy independence. We believe in it. We hope to bring this gas to our nation in a very short time. The motivation of our teams is full and on point. If nothing goes wrong, I hope it will be put into service on the date we planned.” 

Moreover, Dönmez outlines that more than 50 ships are working at the Sakarya gas field. Regarding the oil reserves in Gabar, he points out that “there is a daily production of 7,800 barrels in seven wells,”  while “another exploration drilling is about to begin in the very close region. Currently, the rig is in transit to the region.” Dönmez hopes to get results in a few months from this drilling campaign.

The announcement about the new vessel, which joined the country’s fleet, comes after Dönmez disclosed Türkiye’s energy plan on Thursday, 19 January 2023. The country’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources claims that this plan will enable Türkiye to ramp up its installed electricity capacity to 189,700 megawatts in 2035 while pointing out that “it is possible to produce hydrogen by integrating electrolyzers into clean energy sources. We will increase our electrolyzer installed capacity to 2 in 2030, 5 in 2035 and 2053. We aim to increase it to 70 gigawatts.”

While introducing Türkiye’s National Energy Plan and Hydrogen Technologies Strategy and Roadmap, Dönmez stated that important steps were taken with the aim of turning Türkiye into a natural gas hub. He says that the country plans to increase “the number of our 4 LNG facilities, 2 of which are FSRU, to 5 with the new FSRU we will commission in Saros.” The Saros FSRU is expected to be “in our territorial waters very soon,” states Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

The country’s new energy plan aims to increase clean energy and energy efficiency within the scope of sustainability, as explained by Dönmez, who said: “Our energy consumption, which was 147.2 million tons of oil equivalent in 2020, will reach 205.3 million tons of oil equivalent in 2035 in line with Türkiye’s growth targets. We foresee an increase of approximately 39.5 per cent in our energy consumption in 12 years.”

He also emphasises that renewable energy sources, which had a share of 16.7 per cent in energy consumption in 2020, will increase to 23.7 per cent in 2035. Additionally, Türkiye plans to increase its installed electricity capacity from 95,900 megawatts to 189,700 megawatts with 74.3 per cent of the country’s capacity increase expected to come from “renewable sources, primarily solar and wind,” as confirmed by Dönmez.

In line with this, the installed solar capacity is expected to increase to 52,900 megawatts in 2035, the wind capacity is anticipated to reach 29,600, hydroelectric 35,100, and geothermal and biomass 5,100 megawatts. Dönmez also adds that the country aims to reach “a battery storage capacity of 7.5 gigawatts.” 

Dönmez further underscores that the share of nuclear energy in production is expected to reach 11.1 per cent in 2035, adding: “In addition to conventional nuclear power plants, small and medium-sized modular reactors known as SMR are now on our agenda. We will add it to our energy portfolio.” 

In regards to hydrogen, Dönmez pointed out: “The green hydrogen we obtain by using renewable energy sources through the electrolysis of water will be an important argument for our net-zero emission target. It will help decarbonise energy-intensive sectors. It will be more economical and easier to produce where it is consumed, as it will reduce transportation and storage costs.”

Dönmez also claims that talks are underway with domestic and foreign companies related to hydrogen, adding: “We regard hydrogen as the future energy carrier. In order to reach our 2053 net-zero target, studies are continuing to mix the natural gas used with clean fuels such as hydrogen and synthetic methane. Starting from 2053, we will increase the mixing ratio of hydrogen to natural gas to 12 per cent and the mixing ratio of synthetic methane to 30 per cent.”

While pointing out that hydrogen will play an important role not only in production but also in the development of storage technologies, Dönmez remarked: “Turkey has a great potential in terms of green hydrogen production. Considering our geopolitical position, we have all the instruments that will make us a strong player in the global hydrogen market. Our target is net-zero emissions by 2053. We aim to reduce the cost of hydrogen production per kilogram to $2.4 by 2035, and to halve this figure by the 2050s.” 

Aside from supporting research, development and production studies for the development of domestic and national technologies, Dönmez underlines that Türkiye will create a hydrogen value chain consisting of hydrogen production, storage and distribution under the responsibility of the Turkish Energy, Nuclear and Mining Research Institute (TENMAK).

Regarding Türkiye’s other recent activities, it is with noting that the country’s total natural gas reserves in the Black Sea recently increased to 710 bcm, following a new gas discovery and an upward revision of a previous one.

This new discovery was made at Çaycuma 1 block by the Fatih drillship, 3,023 meters below sea level in the Black Sea.

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