ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

260 NEWSLETTER 2018 Adapting Bilateral Agreements based on Natural Gas in the Electricity Market * Att. Ecem Susoy Uygun Introduction Natural gas plays a substantial role in the generation of electrical energy. In fact, the proportion of natural gas fueled power plants in the field of licensed electrical energy production increased to 37.18% in 2017 1 . Considering the high margin of natural gas in electrical energy generation, the decisions of the Petroleum Pipeline Company (“BOTAS”) regarding the sales prices of natural gas have a crucial impact on the electricity market. In this regard, as BOTAS announced on 31.07.2018, the new regulations regarding the wholesale prices of natural gas produced some repercussions in the electricity market. Ad- ditionally, the loss of value of the Turkish Lira against the US Dollar also rendered the consequences of bilateral contracts in the electricity market vague. On the other hand, substantial developments in the energy market also introduced important legal discussions. The leading topic amongst these discussions is whether or not bilateral contracts may be adapted to changes in circumstance as per Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (“TCO”). Impacts of the Developments in the Natural Gas Market on the Electricity Market In the press statement of BOTAS dated 31.07.2018, it states that due to the significant increase in the price per barrel of crude oil, and * Article of September 2018 1 EMRA , Electricity Market Progress Report, 2017, p. 5, http://epdk.gov.tr/Detay/ Icerik/3-0-0-102/yillik-rapor-elektrik-piyasasi-gelisim-raporlari (Access date: 24.09.2018).