Yildiz: "Renewable energy is a priority"

Renewable energy is a priority in terms of both legislation and culture, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said at the Second National Energy Efficiency Forum in Istanbul yesterday. As recent renewable energy legislation shows, Turkey's green energy ambitions are a top priority, Yildiz said, but further legislative efforts as well as a change in the culture of the energy sector are needed. "Regulation and legislation is important, but not enough, since it's also the culture that has to change," he said. "Actors of energy change are found at every level of society; we can't all sit individually and watch other people do it, while not taking responsibility." The two-day forum comes after passage late last year of a renewable energy law guaranteeing lower prices for renewable energy projects. In his speech, Yildiz emphasized people's individual responsibility to change energy consumption patterns. The government is prioritizing energy as a result of global climate change and Turkey's increasingly vulnerable energy dependency, he said. "Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan has taken energy conservation and its many concerns under his wing and prioritized them," he added. The forum will have a large impact on Turkey's upcoming energy strategy plan, which is expected to include more renewable projects, he said. "This conference should be considered the final meeting before the strategy plan," he added.