Turkey, France's GDF Suez Sign Agreement on Energy Cooperation

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Turkish government and GDF Suez (OTC:GDSZF) (Paris, France) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on future energy projects in Turkey. GDF Suez plans to expand its presence in Turkey through the 4,400-megawatt (MW) Sinop nuclear development project, together with Turkey's state-owned Elektrik Uretim A.S. (EUAS) (Ankara, Turkey) and Japanese partners.

GDF Suez is already part of a Franco-Japanese consortium that was selected last May to build Turkey's second nuclear power plant, a $22 billion project due to come online in a decade.

At the signing ceremony, GDF Suez Chairman and CEO Gerard Mestrallet said that the company signed a draft agreement with the Turkish government to build a 1,320-MW, lignite-powered power plant in Adana, in the southern province of Turkey.

"The amount of the project will be around $2.7 billion," Mestrallet said at a press conference. "We remain committed to investing in major energy projects in Turkey and supporting the Turkish government to ensure security of supply as the country's demand for energy grows."

GDF Suez has subsidiaries in the Turkish energy market involving power generation and gas distribution. It also has interests in approximately 1,250 MW of power generation capacity in Turkey through the Baymina and Unimar gas-fired power plants. The company owns Izgaz, Turkey's third-largest gas distribution company.

The Chairman and CEO of GDF Suez, Gérard Mestrallet, and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in Turkey, Taner Yildiz, signed the agreement in the presence of the French and Turkish presidents, François Hollande and Abdullah Gül.

Long-Planned Visit
Hollande's visit to Turkey comes at a time when the two countries are experiencing lows in diplomatic relations. In a joint press conference with Gul, Hollande cautiously backed Turkey's aim to join the European Union (EU), despite its recent crackdown on police and judiciary and earlier French reservations about the idea.

"Negotiations do not entail membership," Hollande said. "The issue of membership will be decided upon at a referendum."

Gul said that the EU membership is a result of a technical process: "We don't want political blockages, or for other issues to be brought into this process. I'm saying this for other members as well, not just France. We don't want any hurdles, because this is a technical process."

Under EU rules, accession of a new member requires unanimous approval by the bloc's current 28 members. European leaders criticised the AK Party leader in Brussels last week, saying democratic principles needed to be upheld.

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