ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is considering building a natural gas pipeline through the Balkans to Italy with Switzerland, Turkey's Energy Minister told reporters on Wednesday.

He also said Swiss company EGL is planning to build a gas power plant in Turkey and that Turkey was planning to sign a preliminary agreement deal with Switzerland in March which would include the issue of nuclear power.
""We are appraising with Switzerland the construction of a new natural gas pipeline that will pass through Albania and Italy,"" Guler told reporters.
Turkey's fast rising energy consumption and rapid market liberalization has been drawing the attention of international investors, among them Austrian Verbund, Czech CEZ and German RWE.
Director of the Swiss Federal Office for Energy Walter Steinmann said Swiss company Atel is also interested in Turkish energy projects.
Turkey is due to hold auctions for the construction and operation of three separate nuclear power stations with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts by May, and the government has said construction is targeted to begin this year.
Tender conditions are expected to be announced on Feb. 21.