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Turkey's Renewable Energy PolicyAyhan Demirbaş aa Department of Chemical Engineering , Selcuk University , Konya, TurkeyPublished online: 16 Aug 2006.

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Energy Sources, Part A, 28:657–665, 2006Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1556-7036 print/1556-7230 onlineDOI: 10.1080/00908310600718734

Turkey’s Renewable Energy Policy

AYHAN DEMIRBAS

Department of Chemical EngineeringSelcuk UniversityKonya, Turkey

This article expresses both Turkey’s present and future renewable energy policy. Airpollution is becoming a great environmental concern in Turkey. Air pollution fromenergy utilization in the country is due to the combustion of coal, lignite, petroleum,natural gas, wood, and agricultural and animal wastes. In 1992, Turkish Ministry ofEnvironment issued a regulation providing for emissions testing for cars, trucks, andvans. Achieving a solution to environmental problems requires long-term policies forsustainable development. In this aspect, renewable energy resources appear to be theone of the most efficient and effective solutions. Turkey has substantial reserves ofrenewable energy resources. However, actual utilization of these resources is quite low.

Keywords renewable energy, renewable energy policy, environmental issues, Turkey

Since Turkey is an energy importing country, more than about 60% of energy consump-tion in the country is met by imports, and the share of imports continues to grow eachyear. Figure 1 shows Turkey’s total energy production, consumption, and electricity con-sumption. The current forecast shows that the primary energy production was 31.1 Mtoein 2000 and will be 50.6 Mtoe in 2010 whereas the primary energy consumption, whichwas 91 Mtoe in 2000, will reach up to 167.0 Mtoe in 2010. The gross electricity con-sumption was 134.0 TWh in 2000 and is assumed to rise up to 290.0 TWh in 2010.In 1999, 62% of primary energy was met by imports. Figure 2 shows Turkey’ primaryenergy imports by years. The primary energy import ratio will reach up to 70% in 2010and 74% in 2020, and these import ratios are very high compared with other energyimporting countries.

Comparing energy resources and reserves of Turkey with those of the world: coal,geothermal, and hydro resources are around 1%, whereas oil and natural gas resources areat the present knowledge negligible. The main indigenous energy resource is poor qualitylignite. Turkey plans to increase hydropower production in the near future. Natural gas isimported mainly from Russia. The renewable energy sources have some advantages whencompared to fossil fuels. Therefore, Turkey has to adopt new long-term energy strategiesto reduce the share of fossil fuels in primary energy consumption. Starting from 1997,Turkey is facing an electricity shortage. A major dilemma now faced by Turkey is howto invest in new electric power capacity while at the same time adhering to foreign debtceilings under lending rules set by the IMF. It is expected that this level of growth inelectricity consumption will continue in coming years (Demirbas, 2003).

This study has been supported by Scientific Research Project (BAP in Turkish initials) ofSelcuk University.

Address correspondence to Ayhan Demirbas, Selcuk University, Department of ChemicalEngineering, 42031 Konya, Turkey. E-mail: ayhandemirbas@hotmail.com

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Figure 1. Turkey’s total energy production, consumption and electricity consumption.

Increased use of renewable energy can have an important environmental effect. En-ergy technologies drawing on renewable energy avoid the severe environmental impacts ofthe fossil fuel cycle. Renewable energy technologies have made such rapid strides in per-formance and price that they are competitive with fossil fuel power plants in an increasingnumber of situations. Renewable energy policies are driven by the well-recognized needfor a sustainable society. Environmental programs have been formulated as a consequence

Figure 2. Turkey’ primary energy imports by years.

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of international agreements on climate change (Kwant, 2003). Achieving solutions to theenvironmental problems that we face today requires long-term potential actions for sus-tainable development. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the oneof the most efficient and effective solutions. That is why there is an intimate connectionbetween renewable energy and sustainable development (Demirbas, 2000a).

In the last years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) commends the steps Turkeyhas taken towards energy liberalization. The IEA recommends that all energy subsidies,direct and indirect, be eliminated and that competition be introduced without delay andregulation be made more transparent. Turkey should also adopt measures to limit green-house gas emissions. The IEA believes that there is potential for greater energy efficiencyand greater use of renewable energy sources.

Turkey’s Renewable Energy Situation

Main renewable energy resources in Turkey are: hydro, biomass, wind, biogas, geother-mal, and solar. Turkey has to adopt new long-term energy strategies to reduce the shareof fossil fuels in primary energy consumption. The amount of primary energy productionby source in 1997 is shown in Table 1. The country’s capacity to produce primary energy(excluding lignite, hydro, and renewable) is extremely limited. Table 2 shows Turkey’senergy consumption by source in 1997.

The share of renewable energy in Turkey’s Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) wasabout 14.4% of TPES in 1999, and renewables are the second-largest domestic energysources after coal—almost triple the IEA average—with the majority of total renewableenergy supply from biomass and animal products, mostly wood, and some geothermalenergy (Tables 1 and 2). The relative importance of renewables in TPES continues todecline as domestic coal production and natural gas imports rise steadily to satisfy risingelectricity demand.

Geothermal should be available in Turkey, since it lies astride deep geologic faults,and could be utilized in selected locations to cover a share of electricity demand. Turkeyhas a place among the world’s first seven countries with respect to the abundance of

Table 1Primary energy production

by source in 1997

Energy source % of total

Lignite 42.4Wood 19.9Oil 13.1Hydro 12.4Dung 5.5Hard coal 4.9Natural gas 0.8Geothermal heat 0.4Geothermal electricity 0.3Solar 0.3

Source: WECTNC, 1998.

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Table 2Energy consumptionby source in 1997

Energy source % of total

Oil 44.5Coal 21.7Electricity 12.1Wood 9.9Natural gas 8.8Dung 2.7Geothermal heat 0.2Solar 0.1

Source: MENR, 1999.

its geothermal resources (Mertoglu et al., 1993). The cost of electricity generated fromgeothermal reserves is between 3–10 c/kWh, and the bottom end of this range is com-petitive with conventional systems.

The utilization of geothermal energy and its contribution to the economy of Turkeyhas been increasing daily. It is expected that air pollution problems will be minimizedby using geothermal energy for heating purposes.

Geothermal energy can be utilized in various forms such as electricity generation,direct use, space heating, heat pumps, greenhouse heating, and industrial usage in Turkey.Today in Turkey, biomass and hydropower are mostly in use, geothermal is in the thirdplace. Geothermal electricity generation has a minor role in Turkey’s electricity capacity,as low as 0.09%, but the projections foresee an improvement to 0.32% by the year of2020. As opposed to the electricity generation, geothermal heat capacity is improvingfaster (Günerhan et al., 2001).

As seen Table 3, high-temperature geothermal fields suitable for conventional elec-tricity generation are Aydin-Germencik (473–505 K), Denizli-Kizildere (463–485 K),Canakkale-Tuzla (413–473 K), Aydin-Salavatli (435–444 K), Kutahya-Simav (426–435 K)and Izmir-Seferihisar (410–426 K).

Wind power should be quite feasible and attractive to Turkey because of its near-competitive price and the probable good wind resources in the country. Wind energy is

Table 3Turkey’s hot field resources

Field Temperature range (K)

Izmir-Balcova 353–399Izmir-Seferihisar 410–426Kutahya-Simav 426–435Aydin-Salavatli 435–444Canakkale-Tuzla 413–473Denizli-Kizildere 463–485Aydin-Germencik 473–505

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already in use in many parts of the world at a price competitive with conventional energytechnologies. In Turkey, wind energy has great potential.

The first wind turbines in Turkey started operating in early 1998. Turkey’s first windfarm was commissioned in February 1998, and has a capacity of 1.5 MW. The majorityof proposed projects are located in the Cesme distric in Izmir and Canakkale regions.The western coast and southeastern Anatolia are very favorable locations for wind powergeneration, with annual average wind speeds around 2.5 m/s and annual wind powerdensities of 2.4 W/m2. These regions are highly suitable for wind power generation, sincewind speeds exceed 3 m/s in most of these areas. The highest wind speed values aregiven in the literature as 5.1–5.2 m/s in Bandirma, Progress in wind energy technology inrecent years has drawn private-sector attention to this energy resource. As a consequence,numerous companies have submitted their applications to The Ministry of Energy andNatural Resources (MENR) for the construction of new wind power plants, and threeplants have been commissioned. Turkey now has a clear target for wind generation, andnumerous wind projects were submitted under the build-own-transfer (BOT) program inrecent years. One of them is an auto producer plant and the other two were built on theBOT model. Wind power production is not very large, but total installed capacity hasreached 18.9 MW and 72 new projects totaling about 2,000 MW are under evaluationby the MENR (1999). The total production for the year 2001 is 152 GWh.

Figure 3 shows the plots for estimated wind energy capacities of Turkey between2000 and 2025. According to this scenario, the installed wind energy capacity of Turkeywould increase from 1360 MW to 11,200 MW, and the share of wind energy for gener-ating electricity would increase from 0.5% to 3.6%.

Solar energy, which is quite abundant in Turkey, can first be used to provide hotwater for domestic and commercial use at competitive prices as shown in the rapid

Figure 3. Plots for estimated wind energy capacities of Turkey between 2005 and 2025.

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development of this technology in other countries in the region. Acceleration of thisdevelopment through a more intensive investment program can substitute much of theelectricity load and reduce the need for imported fossil fuels.

Solar energy has interesting potential in Turkey. Preliminary studies indicate that thecountry has an average 2,640 sunshine hours annually. The total solar energy potentialof Turkey is calculated as 35 Mtoe per year. In the year 2001 in Turkey, An estimated287,000 tons of oil equivalent (toe) for solar heating were produced, especially in thesouthern and western regions and in the residential and commercial sectors.

Total hydropower potential has been estimated at about 125 TWh/year, given averagerainfalls (DGXVII, 1997). This potential is concentrated in 22 basins, the Euphrates andTigris being the biggest with 45% of the total. About 29% of this potential is currentlyused in operating hydro power plants (HPPs), 4% is under development.

The total hydropower capacity of Turkey is estimated at 432 TWH per year. Some ofthis potential can be achieved with small hydroelectric plants (SHEPs) having individualcapacities of 10 MW or less. Large hydroelectric projects are not considered in thisarticle because they are thought to have potentially serious environmental problems, andopposition by local people can be prevented or reduced if SHEPs are used.

The amount of annual biomass potential of Turkey is approximately 32 Million tonsof oil equivalent (Mtoe). Direct combustion in Turkey for many years has used fuel-wood,animal wastes, agricultural crop residues, and logging wastes. These sources are oftencalled noncommercial energy sources, but in Turkey, fuelwood is a tradable community,since it the primary fuel for rural and urban poor districts (Tasdemiroglu, 1986).

Turkey’s first biomass power project is under development in Adana province, atan installed capacity of 45 MW. Two others, at a total capacity of 30 MW are at thefeasibility study stage in Mersin and Tarsus provinces. A total of 22.8 million tons ofsolid waste was collected and disposed of from 2,157 municipalities in Turkey in 1996(SSI, 1996).

Table 4 shows a cost comparison between renewable energy and other energy sources.From this, it can be seen that the renewable energy sources such as biomass, geothermal,and wind are as economically feasible as other common energy sources.

Table 4Comparison of renewable energy to the

other energy sources

Production cost of1 kWh energy (Cent)

Power source Minimum Maximum

Coal 4.5 7.0Natural gas 4.4 5.0Geothermal 4.3 6.8Biomass 4.2 7.9Wind 4.7 7.2Solar thermal hybrid 6.0 7.8Nuclear 5.3 9.3Hydraulic 5.2 18.9

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Renewable Energy Related Environmental Policy

The aims of Turkish energy policy are to satisfy energy demand consistent with eco-nomic, sustainable development, and environmental objectives. Because of that, Turkishenergy policy is concentrated on assurance of energy supply, reliability, domestic suffi-ciency, in time, in economic terms, and sustainability. Turkey’s renewable energy profileis also significantly different from the average: the majority of renewable energy supplyis biomass which is used almost exclusively within the residential sector for heating.

The integration of economic and environmental policies could reduce economic andenvironmental losses today in Turkey and provide preventive policies for the comingyears. Environmental policies are implemented at the provincial level by the coordi-nation of relevant municipalities or government institutions. Turkey began addressingenvironmental concerns during the 1970s. In 1978, the Prime Ministry Undersecretariatfor Environment was founded as an extension of a state ministry responsible for thecoordination of all national and international activities concerning the environment.

Both the Ministry of the Environment (directly) and the MENR (indirectly) areinvolved in renewable energy promotion. The Ministry of Environment promotes thedevelopment of geothermal heat and other environmentally-friendly investments via low-interest loans on up to 45% of the capital cost. The Environmental Law of 1982, whichcame into force in 1983, also endorsed many additional measures.

Turkey has no sustainable renewable energy policy, and there are few governmentalincentives to promote renewable energy. The MENR is preparing draft legislation whichwould allow certain renewable energy projects (mainly geothermal and wind, but alsosolar, wave, waste, and landfill gas only) to be built and operated by the private sector,and would provide incentives for such systems.

At the beginning of the 1970s, the government plan showed that the utilization oflow-grade domestic lignite for electricity generation would make a significant contributionto the country’s economy. Most of these plants were then constructed from 1974 to 1984.However, at that time there were no effective environmental regulations. The power plantswere designed in order to keep ground-level pollutant concentrations lower than the limitsof some international standards.

The protection of environment and public health from pollution arising from energyproduction and consumption activities is one of the principles of the current Turkishnational energy policy. In conjunction with this policy, in 1983 “Environment Law” waspromulgated in which the general principles of the Turkish environment policies wereestablished.

The Air Quality Protection Regulation (AQPR) was formulated in line with thepurpose and principle envisaged in the Environment Law, and it was issued in November1986. The purpose of AQPR is: to bring under control emissions in the form of soot,smoke, dust, gases, steam and aerosols diffused into the atmosphere as a result of anyactivities; to protect human beings and their environment from hazards arising frompollution of the air as a receptor medium; to eliminate the adverse effects of air pollutionwhich cause seriously damage to the public and neighborly relations; and to ensure thatsuch effects are not created.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation (EIAR) was put into force on7 February 1993. The purpose of Turkish EIA Regulation is: to regulate the administrativeand technical principles which will be obeyed during the process of environmental impactassessment to be realized with a view to identify and to evaluate all possible impacts onenvironment of investment decisions of all public or private organizations, institutions

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and agencies whose proposed activities may cause environmental problems; to preventor mitigate the adverse impacts which may cause any harm to the environment; and toasses the alternatives of the activities.

In line with the Environment Law, several regulations have been issued since 1983:(1) Air Quality Control Regulation (1986), (2) Water Pollution Control Regulation (1988),(3) Noise Control Regulation (1986), (4) Control of Solid Waste Regulation (1991),(5) Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation (1992), (6) Regulation on Control ofMedical Waste (1993), (7) Control of Toxic Chemical Substances and Products Regulation(1993), and (8) Control of Hazardous Wastes Regulation (1993).

The share of fossil fuels is likely to increase and that of hydropower is expectedto decline slightly by 2010. Independent electricity producers, including those using re-newable energy sources, are given a power purchase guarantee by the Turkish ElectricityGeneration and Transmission Corporation (TEAS in Turkish initials), who report to theMENR. The Government has planned a forest management program to reduce uncon-trolled woodcutting.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Turkey

Air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in Turkey. Measures with regardto greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have been initiated in Turkey. The National ClimateCoordination Group published a report on GHG emissions in line with those conducted bymember countries of the UNFCCC. Air pollution from energy utilization in the countryis due to the combustion of coal, lignite, petroleum, natural gas, wood, and agriculturaland animal wastes. The increasing use of domestic lignite has increased SO2 emissionsrapidly in recent years in Turkey. The major source of SO2 emissions is the power sector,contributing more than 50% of the total emissions. The NO2 emissions are lower thanSO2 emissions in Turkey, they have likewise increased rapidly, following the growth ofenergy requirements.

In 1992, Turkish Ministry of Environment issued a regulation providing for emissionstesting for cars, trucks and vans. The regulation foresees penalties in case of noncompli-ance with the maximum emissions allowed. Emission testing is mandatory for the salesof used vehicles. The regulation on “Air Quality Control” issued in 1986 sets emissionlimits with penalties for combustion plants, as well as global emissions limits in industrialand nonindustrial regions.

Conclusion

Comparing energy resources and reserves of Turkey with those of the world: coal, geother-mal and hydro resources are around 1%. Turkey also has rich thorium reserves. The mainindigenous energy resource is poor quality lignite. Turkey plans to increase hydropowerproduction in the near future. Main renewable energy resources in Turkey are: hydro,biomass, wind, biogas, geothermal, and solar. Turkey has to adopt new long-term en-ergy strategies to reduce the share of fossil fuels in the primary energy consumption.The renewable energy sources have some advantages when compared to fossil fuels. Fu-ture supply of biomass energy depends on energy prices and technical progress, both ofwhich are driven by energy policy priorities. Technical progress may decrease the costsof biomass energy and thus increase the competitiveness (Demirbas, 2000b).

Air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in Turkey. Air pollutionfrom energy utilization in the country is due to the combustion of coal, lignite, petroleum,

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natural gas, wood, and agricultural and animal wastes. Carbon assessments can play animportant role in a strategy to control CO2 emissions while raising revenue.

The increasing use of domestic lignite has rapidly increased SO2 emissions in recentyears in Turkey. The major source of SO2 emissions is the power sector, contributingmore than 50% of the total emissions. In 1992, Turkish Ministry of Environment issueda regulation providing for emissions testing for cars, trucks and vans. The regulationforesees penalties in case of noncompliance with the maximum emissions allowed.

The aims of Turkish energy policy are to satisfy energy demand consistent witheconomic, sustainable development, and environmental objectives. Achieving a solutionto environmental problems requires long-term policies for sustainable development. In thisaspect, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effectivesolutions. There are no other national renewables targets. There is some municipal supportin the areas of hydro and geothermal heat. Private sector involvement in renewable energypromotion exists, predominantly in areas for wind energy and small scale solar projects.The share of fossil fuels is likely to increase and that of hydropower is expected todecline slightly to 37% of electricity production by 2010.

References

DGXVII. 1997. The SYNERGY program report. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission—Directorate General for Energy (DGXVII).

Demirbas, A. 2000a. Recent advances in biomass conversion technologies. Energy Edu. Sci. Tech-nol. 6:19–41.

Demirbas, A. 2000b. Biomass resources for energy and chemical industry. Energy Edu. Sci. Technol.5:21–45.

Demirbas, A. 2003. Energy and environmental issues relating to greenhouse gas emissions inTurkey. Energy Convers. Mgmt. 44:203–213.

Günerhan, G. G., G. Kocar, and A. Hepbasli. 2001. Geothermal energy utilization in Turkey. Int.J. Energy Res. 25:769–784.

Kwant, K. W. 2003. Renewable energy in The Netherlands: Policy and instruments. BiomassBioenergy 24:265–267.

Mertoglu, O., F. M. Mertoglu, and N. Basarir. 1993. Direct use of heating applications in Turkey.Annual Meeting, California. Geothermal Res. Council Trans. 7:19–22.

MENR. 1999. Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Ankara, Turkey: Turkish MENR.SSI (State Statistics Institute). 1996. Environmental Statistics, Environment Inventory for Munici-

palities. Ankara, Turkey: Turkish State Statistics Institute.Tasdemiroglu, E. 1986. Biomass energy potential in Turkey. Biomass 11:81–89.WECTNC. 1998. Turkey Energy Report 1997. Ankara, Turkey: World Energy Council Turkish

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