Energy Seminar in Ankara 6th November 2013

Closing remarks by State Secretary Kåre Fostervold, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a privilege for me to be invited to say a few words after such an interesting seminar.

Through the insightful words from His Majesty King Harald, Undersecretary Metin Kilzi of Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and Minister of Industry, Monica Mæland, we got an excellent overview of the importance of hydropower development and of a functioning power market in our two countries.

Perhaps most prominently, yesterday we witnessed the signing of a high-ranking Memorandum of Understanding. This will further enhance the cooperation in the energy sector between our two countries.

I look forward to contribute to a successful implementation of this MoU and to continue the discussions and cooperation with our colleagues in the Ministry of Energy in Turkey.

The in-depth presentations and discussions during the seminar gave me a good insight in the huge opportunities that could materialise if we strengthen our cooperation in the energy sector even further.

There is tremendous know-how and industrial capacity in both countries which could be used to common benefit.

At the end of such an inspiring seminar, I would like to share with you some of my own observations and thoughts:

• Hydropower is by far the largest source of renewable energy and has been of tremendous benefit to Norway’s economic development. Together with oil and gas, this has been and is the back-bone of our prosperity.

• Norway regards hydropower of all sizes as renewable and as a source that will continue to play an important part in the Government’s goal towards developing more renewable energy. This is essential in order to reach our EU target of a 67,5 per cent share of renewable energy in our energy consumption by 2020.

• Hydropower should be a catalyst for the further development of our energy industry and is in addition a secure and affordable source of clean and climate-friendly energy.

• Hydropower with storage has an increasingly important role in multi-purpose projects where irrigation and flood-control are key factors. This is climate-adaptation in practice, with economic benefits as an important side-effect.

• We must also continue our efforts to develop other sources as wind power and solar energy, be it thermal or PV. These variable sources for electricity generation works well together in a synergy, where hydropower secures through its flexibility the stability of the power grid by providing balancing power.

• An effective power market is good for the environment, for the economy and the over-all resource utilisation.

• National and regional power markets will enhance the opportunities for developing more renewable energy, by creating larger markets with a larger capacity to pay. This is an important experience from the Nordic region which we acquired during the last 20 years.

• I am pleased to see that this is an important issue here in Turkey as well and this is a topic we will continue to discuss further.

Finally, I will give a special thanks to INTPOW and Innovation Norway for the organisation of this seminar. It has been highly interesting for me to listen to the discussions.

Thank you very much!