Sapanca, a district of Adapazarı, is now acknowledged as the first district in Turkey which welcomes the natural gas in 2009.

With the natural gas supply ceremony organized in Sapanca, a district of Adapazarı, on January 10th, Sapanca is now acknowledged as the first district that has welcomed natural gas in 2009. The ceremony was full of distinguished guests: Mr. Hilmi Guler, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Erol Aslan Cebeci, the Parliament Member of the Justice and Development Party representing Adapazarı, Mr. Hasan Koktas, the President of Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Mr. Ahmet Aydın, the Vice President, Mr. Huseyin Atak, the Governor of Sakarya, Mr. Irfan Sezer, the Major of Adapazarı Metropolitan Municipality, Mr. Ibrahim Uslu, the Major of Sapanca, the Board members of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Dr. Zafer Demircan, the Vice-president of Tariffs Department, Mr. Ugur Kınay, the Vice President of Natural Gas Market Department, Dr. Mehmet Nezih Erdem, the Board Chairman of AGDAS along with lots of guests and press members. The opening ceremony was also honored by top level managers of Public Agencies and Utilities, the Majors, Subgovernors and Majors of districts in Sakarya and the Presidents of Non-governmental Organizations.

The total length of the natural gas line throughout the province reached 1,500,000m comprising 18,000m of steel rope line as well as 129,000 meters of polyethylene line constructed by AGDAS in the district of Sapanca and hamlet of Kırkpınar. Thanks to these investments, the total investment value since the license date is now closer to TL85,000,000.

Beside the fact that these investments offer direct employment opportunities in the province, the conversion of old heating systems to new systems fit for the natural gas has created a huge commercial potential after the first natural gas was delivered to the province in 2003, and thanks to wide use of the natural gas, Adapazarı is now a city where one can rarely meet respiratory system diseases due to the clean environment.

In the ceremony held to celebrate the first delivery of the natural gas to Sapanca, the first speech was delivered by Dr. Mehmet Nezih Erdem, the Board Chairman of AGDAS: “We are really happy and feel honored to deliver the natural gas just to your door in these early days of 2009. By using this modern and economic fuel, you will help clean the air of this sweet touristic city so that the air will be certainly fit for a healthy life”. Dr. Mehmet Nezih Erdem, the Board Chairman of AGDAS, finished his speech with these uplifting words: “Having started our initial investments in 2003, the length of natural gas pipes laid down since then reached 1,500km. I would like to thank to the esteemed Minister as well as the President and the Members of EMRA due to their huge contributions”

Dr. Nezih Erdem, the Board Chairman of AGDAS, was followed by Dr. M. Hilmi Guler, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, who delivered a speech: Pointing out the smog that rises from the chimneys around at the beginning of his speech, Mr. Guler said:: “The coal smog which now fills the ceremony area should be replaced by the natural gas without any delay. We managed to convert the considerable air pollution in Istanbul to a purely clean air thanks to natural gas. Thanks to huge investments, we are trying hard not to let our people feel the effects of natural gas crisis. We managed to raise the number of provinces which use natural gas to 63 thanks to efficient natural gas crisis management. We deliver the natural gas to hundreds of districts like Sapanca. The length of steel pipes rose from four thousand kilometers to eleven thousand kilometers. This is a team play. Thanks to the outstanding resulting success, Sapanca folks will soon breath a purely clean air.”