ISTANBUL, TURKEY – U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Leocadia I. Zak kicked off the U.S.–Turkey Smart Grid Workshop in Istanbul today, highlighting the Agency's commitment to assisting Turkey in achieving its energy sector expansion goals. Director Zak was joined at the opening of the Workshop by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr., Deputy Under Secretary for the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Selahattin ÇİMEN, and senior representatives from the Energy Markets Regulatory Agency (EMRA), the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEIAŞ) and the Association of Electricity Distribution Services (ELDER).

The goal of the two-day workshop, which is being co-sponsored by ELDER, is to forge lasting partnerships and strengthen commercial ties between the U.S. and Turkish electricity sectors, focusing on smart grid enhancements. The workshop will highlight smart grid projects and initiatives in Turkey, U.S. smart grid technologies, and the regulatory frameworks, standards and financing mechanisms available to support these technologies.

During her opening remarks, Director Zak stressed the importance of these U.S. and Turkish industries working together to strengthen a growing clean energy infrastructure.

"Together, we can build the relationships and share the knowledge necessary to accomplish Turkey's power infrastructure goals," said Director Zak. "The Turkish Government continues to pursue its infrastructure development plans for completion by 2023, and USTDA continues to identify opportunities such as this workshop to support those plans."

Director Zak also announced the Agency's continued support to achieving Turkey's energy goals by highlighting a grant awarded by the Agency on Feb. 8, 2013 to TEIAŞ. The grant will support a feasibility study that will make recommendations on ways to enhance and expand smart grid technology in Turkey. The feasibility study will allow TEIAŞ to identify gaps in the Turkish electricity transmission network's current use of smart grid technology and assist the company in preparing implementation guidelines for upcoming network enhancements.

Among the U.S. companies participating in the Workshop were sponsors Oracle, OSI Soft, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Applied Materials, GE Digital Energy, Silver Spring Networks, Accenture and Cisco. For more information on the U.S.-Turkey Smart Grid Workshop, visit www.ustda.gov.

Related:

The Honorable Leocadia I. Zak's Opening Remarks at U.S.–Turkey Smart Grid Workshop

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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project planning activities, pilot projects, and reverse trade missions while creating sustainable infrastructure and economic growth in partner countries.

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