Türkiye’s energy deal market has broken a three-year slowdown, with PwC Türkiye reporting that disclosed mergers and acquisitions tripled in value to an estimated $3 billion in 2025. For international investors, the recovery is not simply a cyclical rebound. It signals renewed foreign appetite for strategic infrastructure, renewables, gas distribution, storage and industrial self-generation assets at a moment when Türkiye is trying to lower import dependence, scale renewables, modernize its grid and position itself as a regional energy hub.
A Recovery After the 2022 Slowdown
PwC Türkiye’s 18th annual Energy Deals report, published on January 26, 2026, says the loss of momentum that began in 2022 was “finally reversed” in 2025. The firm counted 38 disclosed energy transactions with an estimated total value of $3 billion, compared with 30 deals worth $1 billion in 2024. Average deal value rose to $79 million from $33 million.
The trend line matters. PwC’s data show 31 deals worth about $2 billion in 2022, 29 deals worth $1.8 billion in 2023, then the sharper fall to $1 billion in 2024. The 2025 recovery therefore reflects both a rebound in volume and the return of larger-ticket assets, especially in thermal power and gas infrastructure.
Foreign capital also returned. PwC says four 2025 energy transactions involved foreign players, contributing 42 percent of estimated total deal value, a notable shift after 2024’s deal flow was entirely local. That foreign share was heavily influenced by the $1 billion TANAP transaction, but it still suggests international funds are again willing to price Turkish energy exposure when assets have hard-currency characteristics, infrastructure-style cash flows or strategic regional importance.
The broader Turkish M&A market also improved. The Turkish Competition Authority’s 2025 Mergers and Acquisitions Overview Report said it reviewed 416 merger, acquisition and privatization transactions in 2025, the highest number since its reporting series began in 2013. Excluding privatizations, 162 transactions involved Turkish target companies with a disclosed value of TRY 466.1 billion, or $11.81 billion. That macro deal backdrop helps explain why energy assets, after a quiet period, found buyers.
What Drove Buyers Back
PwC attributes the 2025 recovery to several overlapping forces: long-awaited interest in high-value thermal power plants, pre-IPO portfolio preparation by renewable energy companies, industrial groups buying generation assets to control power costs, consolidation in natural gas distribution, and infrastructure fund appetite for midstream gas.
The utilities segment led the recovery. PwC counted 32 disclosed utility transactions worth about $2 billion, double the 2024 value. The basket was diverse, including 22 renewable power plant deals, three thermal power plant deals, one large hydro plant transaction, three natural gas distribution deals, two power trading deals and one waste-to-energy transaction.
The largest utility-side transaction was the Çayırhan thermal power plant and lignite operation, acquired by Akçadağ İnşaat Enerji for $515.9 million, according to PwC’s deal list. SOCAR’s $225 million acquisition of Gama Enerji İç Anadolu Elektrik Santrali was another notable energy asset transfer. In renewables and waste-to-energy, Freepoint Eco-Systems International from the UK acquired a 10 percent stake in Biotrend Çevre ve Enerji Yatırımları for $30 million, while several solar, wind, hydro and geothermal assets changed hands among Turkish corporates.
The pattern is important for FDI analysis. Türkiye’s energy transition is not only attracting greenfield developers. It is creating a secondary market in operational assets, licenses, pre-licensed portfolios and industrial self-consumption projects. Foreign investors assessing entry now need to decide whether to build, buy, partner or acquire minority exposure through infrastructure-style structures. That brings market entry strategy, incorporation, tax structuring, merger control, licensing due diligence and post-acquisition project management into the center of any transaction plan.
Gas Infrastructure Is Back in the Strategic Frame
The oil and gas side of the market revived sharply from a very quiet 2024. PwC recorded six disclosed oil and gas deals in 2025, worth about $1 billion, led by Apollo Global Management’s investment linked to the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, TANAP.
Reuters reported in March 2025 that BP agreed to sell a stake in a company invested in TANAP to Apollo for $1 billion. PwC describes the transaction as Apollo acquiring an indirect 3 percent share in TANAP after buying one quarter of BP Pipelines’ 12 percent interest, while BP retained strategic governance rights. TANAP runs roughly 1,800 kilometers across Türkiye and forms the central section of the Southern Gas Corridor carrying Azerbaijani gas toward Europe.
That deal illustrates why Türkiye remains strategically relevant even as investors increase exposure to renewables. European gas security, LNG diversification and pipeline optionality remain investable themes. In 2025, BOTAŞ also signed a 20-year LNG agreement with Mercuria for around 70 billion cubic meters in total, roughly 4 bcm per year from 2026, according to Türkiye’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. BOTAŞ also signed arrangements with Woodside Energy for about 5.8 bcm of LNG over up to nine years from 2030, primarily linked to the Louisiana LNG project, according to BOTAŞ and Woodside announcements.
For foreign investors, these developments point to opportunities in storage, shipping, regasification-linked services, trading support, pipeline services and industrial gas supply models. They also underline the importance of government relations and regulatory liaison. Natural gas import rights, BOTAŞ’s dominant market role, storage access, grid connection, tariffs and competition review are not peripheral details. They shape valuation, bankability and exit options.
Renewables, Storage and Grid Investment Set the Long-Term Floor
The strongest structural support for energy M&A remains Türkiye’s renewable buildout. The World Bank said in August 2025 that Türkiye’s Renewable Energy 2035 strategy targets 120 GW of installed wind and solar capacity by 2035, aligned with the country’s 2053 net-zero target. S&P Global Commodity Insights reported that Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar outlined plans to quadruple wind and solar capacity to 120 GW by 2035, including 5 GW of offshore wind, and estimated that about $80 billion of private investment would be needed.
The scale is large because electricity demand is rising. S&P Global cited Bayraktar’s estimate that annual electricity demand could reach 510 TWh in 2030, compared with 330 TWh in 2023. PwC says Türkiye’s total power consumption rose 3 percent year on year in 2025, while installed generation capacity increased 5 percent to 122 GW, with renewables accounting for 62 percent.
Financing is beginning to follow the policy target. In August 2025, the World Bank approved a €625 million IBRD loan, a €32.8 million Clean Technology Fund loan and a $2 million grant for Türkiye’s power transmission system project. The project is designed to integrate large-scale wind and solar, enable 1.7 GW of renewable capacity and support digital grid upgrades. In June 2026, the World Bank approved another €400 million in additional financing to expand Türkiye’s distributed renewable energy market, including distributed wind and commercial-scale battery storage. The bank said the expanded program aims to enable 1,579 MW of renewable capacity, support 392 MWh of battery storage and mobilize up to $405 million in private capital.
These figures explain why dealmakers are watching storage-backed renewables, grid equipment, energy management software, engineering services and industrial rooftop solar. Invest in Türkiye, the official investment office, states that about 33 GW of battery-integrated wind and solar projects are in the pre-license phase. That pipeline could translate into acquisitions, joint ventures and equipment import demand if grid connection, permitting and financing constraints are managed.
The Regulatory Test for Investors
Türkiye’s energy opportunity is policy-driven, but not frictionless. Foreign investors must navigate EMRA licensing, renewable support mechanisms, grid connection rules, land rights, environmental permits, zoning approvals, merger control and tax treatment. In M&A, due diligence must also verify whether target companies hold valid preliminary licenses, generation licenses, connection agreements, land-use rights and incentives, and whether change-of-control approvals are required.
The 2025 “super permit” reforms are relevant here. Law firms including Esin Attorney Partnership and Çakmak have noted that Law No. 7554, published in the Official Gazette in July 2025, amended energy, mining and environmental legislation to accelerate renewable energy investments. Reported changes include expanded urgent expropriation powers for renewable projects, parallel processing of some approvals and an extension of certain permit-fee and land-use discounts to projects commissioned before the end of 2030.
The direction is investor-friendly, but implementation will determine value. Faster permitting can improve project returns only if local authorities, grid operators and environmental review bodies apply rules consistently. Investors buying licensed or pre-licensed assets also need to assess whether shorter timelines change development risk, whether local-content rules affect procurement, and whether incentives are captured at project company level or require restructuring.
This is where advisory support becomes operational rather than cosmetic. Market entry analysis must identify whether acquisition, greenfield development or joint venture is the right route. Incorporation and corporate structuring determine ownership, financing and dividend flows. Investment incentives work requires mapping YEKDEM, YEKA terms, regional incentives and customs or VAT treatment. Legal and tax compliance is central to EMRA approvals, competition filings and transfer pricing. Import-export facilitation matters for turbines, panels, batteries, inverters and grid equipment. Project management becomes essential once permits, procurement, grid connection and construction timetables start to interact.
Competition, Valuation and the 2026 Pipeline
PwC is cautious about 2026 despite the recovery. The firm lists macroeconomic developments, international finance flows, EV charging consolidation, foreign interest in battery manufacturers, utility IPOs, industrial power-cost strategies, privatizations, YEKA auctions and fuel and LPG retail consolidation as factors likely to shape the market.
The EV charging market is a particularly visible consolidation candidate. PwC says 192,000 EVs were sold in Türkiye in 2025, up 82 percent year on year, bringing the total EV fleet above 370,000. Licensed EV charging companies reached 179 by December 2025, with the top ten companies accounting for about half of charging points. That combination of growth and fragmentation is typical of a market moving toward acquisition-driven scale.
The fuel and LPG retail market may also see further consolidation. PwC notes that the number of fuel retail companies fell from more than 50 four years ago to 36, while the top five hold around 70 percent market share. In 2025, Nakkaş Holding bought Alpet, which PwC says had about 400 stations and a 1.8 percent market share.
Türkiye’s hosting of COP31 in Antalya from November 9 to 20, 2026, confirmed by the UNFCCC, could add visibility to clean-energy investment themes. It will not by itself change project economics, but it may increase pressure for clearer climate finance channels, bankable storage rules, grid modernization and decarbonization pathways for exporters exposed to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
What This Means for Foreign Investors
The 2025 recovery in Turkish energy M&A points to a market that is investable again, but selective. The strongest opportunities are likely to be assets with clear offtake, grid access, hard-currency or inflation-protected revenue, strategic infrastructure value, or a role in industrial decarbonization.
For foreign investors, the practical sequence is disciplined. First, define the market entry route, including acquisition, joint venture, greenfield development or minority infrastructure exposure. Second, structure the Turkish vehicle and financing model with tax, repatriation and governance in mind. Third, run regulatory due diligence on EMRA licenses, competition approval, land rights, incentives, environmental permits and grid status. Fourth, assess procurement and import-export requirements for equipment. Fifth, build a government relations and project management plan that tracks approvals, local stakeholders, construction risk and reporting obligations.
That is the operational layer behind the headlines. Türkiye’s energy sector is again producing sizeable transactions, but investors who want to act on the opportunity must convert policy targets and deal momentum into compliant, financeable and executable projects.