Turkey has a growing economy demanding about 7% more energy each year. It’s electric power generation capacity (approx. 41,000 MW) must be doubled in the next 10 years to meet the demand. Natural gas has a significant share in electricity production, which should be reduced. Domestic and renewable energies should be employed in meeting the demand. Turkey took major steps toward liberalization of its energy market. Private enterprises are expected to invest in the energy market in a timely manner. Turkey has an “energy corridor” position between the gas and oil producing countries and the importing countries. Turkey’s efforts to actualize the use of renewable and domestic sources should be supported.
General Energy Consumption and Energy Sources As the population and economy of a country grow, its energy demand also increases. The increase in the primary energy consumption of a developing country is higher than that of developed countries. This increase has been approximately 5.5% for Turkey during recent decades. While the primary energy consumption of the world for 2006 totaled about 10878 mtep (million tons petroleum equivalent), it was about 99.8 mtep for Turkey. Turkey had to import 73% of this energy from other countries. These numbers indicate that Turkey is an energy importing country.
By the year 2020, primary energy consumption in Turkey is expected to reach 222 mtep/year, and the preparations and energy policies suggest that 30% of this amount is to be met by domestic sources. This means that for the next 13 years, Turkey targets a 3% decrease in its dependence on foreign energy.
Turkey has very limited reserves of natural gas, oil, and coal. When the countries with oil and natural gas resources are listed, unfortunately Turkey will not even be among the top 50 countries. The situation is not much better when it comes to coal reserves. Turkey has only 0.46% of the world coal reserves. Solar energy and wind energy look promising; however, it will take years for solar based electric power generation to compete with fossil fuelbased electric power generation.
Another potential of Turkey originates from its geographical position. It can be an “energy corridor” between the oil and natural gas producing countries and the countries that consume such commodities. This role has been integrated in the energy policy of the present government.
Status of Electric Power Generation Equally important to the energy resources a country has are the primary sources it uses for the generation of electric power. Naturally, domestic sources should be preferred. The share of domestic and renewable sources in electric power generation should be kept high without disturbing system stability. If that is not possible, aiming to keep that share high should be the emphasis of the country’s energy policy. In recent years, the Turkish government has maintained such a policy. Still, capital investments and planning in the energy field must have long term time scale. Changes in the approaches and solutions, however, may not be actualized over relatively short periods of time.
As a matter of fact, the establishment of natural-gas-fired electric power generation plants has been discouraged indirectly by the government through its encouragement of coal-fired thermal power plants, hydro-electric power plants, and other types of electric power plants energized with renewable sources such as wind and solar energy. This approach could be considered as part of the energy policy, yet its effects are not felt. The electric energy consumption in Turkey increased from 128.3 billion kWh in 2000 to 189.4 billion kWh in 2007. The increase is about 47%, averaging nearly 7% per year (8.5% for 2007). When there is no crisis or a standstill in the economy, the increase in the demand for electric power is proportional to the growth rate of the economy, reach