Geothermal power plants contribute $260m to the Turkish economy annually

Geothermal power plant in Turkey (source: JESDER)

Alexander Richter 21 Jun 2017

In a press release today, the Turkish Geothermal Power Plant Investors Association (JESDER) reports that the geothermal power plants of the country contribute up to $260 million to the Turkish economy.

In its “Sector Evaluation Report” published today, JESDER says that difficulties encountered in the search, discovery and processing of geothermal energy from renewable energy sources, the costs incurred in this process, and what needs to be done throughout the process have been identified. Furthermore geothermal energy helps to decrease dependence on outside energy resources.

In its report, the Geothermal Power Plant Investors Association (JESDER), ‘Sector Evaluation Report it was emphasised on the necessity for the sustainability of the feed-in-tariff guarantee given by YEKDEM (Renewable Energy Resource Support Mechanism), while the contribution of the domestic and national energy source to the economy of the electricity generated by geothermal energy was presented as numerical data. Thanks to the investments, geothermal energy produced by the electricity to the country’s economy, the supply of natural gas etc., Saving resources as well as making numerous contributions. In this report also; It is stated that the electricity generated from the existing geothermal resources in Turkey reduces the import of approximately 330 thousand tons of fuel oil and 1 billion m3 of natural gas and it also contributes USD 260 million to the country’s economy. It was emphasised that the tax and legal liabilities paid on the basis of the installed power as well as the contribution of the geothermal power plants to the national economy amounted to USD 440 million annually.

The fact that domestic investments are made by domestic investors and that there is no foreign investment in the sector due to the absence of foreign investors in the sector. It is stated that the World Bank and the European Investment Bank have advantages of geothermal energy crediting with low interest rates because 70% of the investments are clean energy realised with the domestic parts produced in Turkey.

4 times more efficient than wind and solar power plants

This report prepared by JESDER also; The infrastructure investment for a 30 MW geothermal power plant operating at a capacity factor of 98 percent, the investment cost of a solar power plant operating at a capacity factor of 30 percent, or a solar energy plant operating at 22.8 percent capacity, was emphasized. Geothermal power plants are said to be 2 to 3 times more efficient than hydroelectric and wind power plants and 5 times more efficient than solar power plants.

“Support of Geothermal of the YEKDEM (Renewable Support Mechanism of Turkey) Must Continue”

In the report; JESDER President Ufuk Sentürk stated that the share allocated to GEPP in the YEKDEM Support mechanism should not be reduced or even increased for GEPP investments to be produced from low-temperature sources. “The installation costs of GEPPs are 3 to 4 times higher than Wind, Solar and Hydro Power Plants that work with other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and water. The reason for this is that the incentive YEKDEM has allocated to geothermal power plants should be in line with the support given to other renewable energy sources. ”

“If we look at the support given to other renewable energy sources that benefit from the YEKDEM, We can see that the GEPPs are in the lower order within this mechanism.

We can see that within the payment amounts of YEKDEM’s resource type, geothermal energy production support received a share of 11 percent with USD 389 million as of end-2016.

Geothermal electricity; EUR 0.25 + 0.05/ kWh in Germany, EUR 0.20/ kWh in France with a 15-year feed-in-tariff guarantee and GBP 140/ MWh in the UK, while it is trading at $0.105 / kWh in Turkey, This situation is lower than other countries. The installed incentive mechanism and the installed capacity of the GEPP have increased five times over the past 5 years and our country has risen to 7th place in terms of installed power worldwide. It is very important to continue the incentive mechanism in order that all of the geothermal electric potential of our country can be used efficiently and investments can continue.

Since the discovered areas are exhausted, new field discoveries have to be made. It is important to create additional incentives so that these discoveries can be attracted by investors, “he added.

Source: JESDER release, translated by our Sister publication JeotermalHaberler