Turkey's real energy prices will be identified when the Turkish Energy Stock Market, EPIAS, is founded, said Nihat Ozdemir, head of ELDER, Turkey's electricity distribution association.
Turkey's energy prices are not independently set because of the huge volumes of imported production resources, said Ozdemir, who is also the CEO of Limak Energy Company.
Turkey's electricity distribution system was privatized in 2013 into 21 districts. The private distribution companies in these districts have leagued together under the auspices of ELDER.
Distribution companies have made investments worth $8 billion for the period of 2010-2015 in terms of technology and new system investments, according to Ozdemir.
He stated that these investments are not enough, and there is a long way to go for distribution companies in upgrading the distribution system which has 34 million subscribers.
'The distribution system and electric meters are old, which should be renewed and replaced by smart, remote controlled ones.' Ozdemir said, adding 'the renewal cost for these electric meters is nearly 10 billion lira, so it is not a one-day-job.'
He explained that Turkey also needs a long time for completion of investments in the distribution sector including the placement underground of 90 percent of the country's electricity cables.
He noted that because the whole distribution system has been privatized, he said that the whole production process should also be.
'Private companies have better management, produce more effectively and increase capacity more,' he said.
He added the privatization process of Turkey's energy sector in the past ten years was extremely successful, and there has not been such a successful privatization operation elsewhere in the world. He cautioned, however, that the country's energy sector is not completely liberalized yet as the state holds most of the assets.
- Consumer complaints are fair
'Consumers have the right to complain about power cuts during the peak winter period,' Ozdemir said, stating that the blackouts will lessen once investments are complete.
He said that consumers were more tolerant when the distribution system was state-owned, but said now with private distribution, any inconvenience experienced puts private companies into the spotlight.
Reported by Mucahid Eker, Written by Arif Hudaverdi Yaman
Anadolu Agency
arif.yaman@aa.com.tr