Geothermal heating is 10 times cheaper than natural gas – JED President

Kizildere-3 Geothermal Power Plant Unit 2 (Source: Zorlu Energy)

Carlo Cariaga 16 Dec 2022

The President of the  Turkish Geothermal Energy Association (JED) Ali Kindap gave an interview with the AA correspondent about geothermal-sourced heating in Turkiye. “Currently, the cost of geothermal heating is half of the gas prices we use in houses. We pay 20 percent of the gas in the houses, and 80 percent is subsidized by the state. From this perspective, geothermal heating is 10 times cheaper than the price of unsubsidized natural gas.” said.

The President of JED stated that there is already geothermal-sourced residential heating in 150,000 households in Turkiye. Kindap shared the following information on the subject: “Currently, the cost of geothermal heating is half of the gas prices we use in houses. Today, the cost of heating in households with natural gas varies between 55-60 cents per kilowatt hour, while the cost per kilowatt hour for geothermal heating is between 30 and 35 cents. We pay 20 percent of the gas in the houses, and 80 percent is subsidized by the state.”

“From this perspective, geothermal heating is 10 times cheaper than the price of unsubsidized natural gas. While geothermal source heating can be provided to 150 thousand of households uninterruptedly, hot water service is also provided within this scope. This is one-tenth of the country’s natural gas cost. Therefore, it is both very cheap and a clean resource that belongs to us.” added Kindap.

Emphasizing that geothermal-sourced heating can be used for all households in Turkiye, the President said that the legislative infrastructure should be established first, and then a physical infrastructure similar to the water network infrastructure is needed.

According to the records of the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, Turkiye has 62 ,000 MW of geothermal potential. President Kindap said, “This means energy equivalent to 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This amount is at the level of the one-year natural gas demand of Turkiye. Today, we use about one-third of this amount we import for heating houses, and the economic equivalent of the gas used only in houses is EUR 23 billion in the international market.” said.

In the world’s energy and climate crisis, all countries are looking for ways to use renewable and clean energy sources more. Emphasizing the importance of geothermal source heating in terms of Turkiye ‘s strengthening in the fight against the climate crisis, according to Kindap, if geothermal investments start in a short time, geothermal urban heating can be provided to all residences in Turkiye by 2050.

According to the information shared by JED, the highest number of households with geothermal heating is 38,899 in the Balcova and Narlidere regions of Izmir, 30,000 in Afyonkarahisar Sandikli, 25,610 in the Omer-Gecek regions of Afyonkarahisar and 18,612 in Kutahya Simav.

Source: Anadolu Agency via our Turkish language platform JeotermalHaberler