Towards More Geothermal Energy in Turkey

Abstract

Driven by global warming, transition to zero carbon economy has become of utmost importance. This transition needs to focus on all renewable energy technologies, such as solar, wind, biomass, hydro, geothermal, etc., and energy efficiency measures will also play a key role in this transition. Among the renewable energy resources, geothermal is probably the least developed, but can provide a good source of meeting baseload energy needs both for electricity generation and heat supply. The energy policy of the Turkish government has two main priorities, namely (a) maximizing exploitation of domestic primary energy resources and (b) securing sufficient, reliable, and affordable energy to a growing economy in an environmentally sustainable manner. There is a supportive legal framework to facilitate geothermal development. Geothermal resources in Turkey are used for power production, as well as for space heating and tourism related applications. The installed capacity of geothermal power plants in Turkey has grown from 15 MWe in 2006 to 1613 MWe by end of 2020. However, capacity development has mainly taken place in the Aegean region, namely the Menderes and Gediz Grabens. The target is to reach 2000 MWe geothermal power capacity by 2023 and even up to 4000 MWe by 2030. The key research question of this chapter is: how can Turkey attract new investments and further increase the installed capacity in geothermal for power generation and direct use? Thereupon, this chapter will assess the current situation of geothermal in Turkey and point out the potential and the geographical hotspots, which should be focused on to further develop geothermal use. The literature on investments in geothermal power will also be assessed, leading to an estimate of the reasonable installed capacity per drilled production well. A simple business model needed for profitable investments will be discussed. Financial support in the form of a risk-sharing mechanism (RSM), which has recently been launched in Turkey will be crucially important.