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Sustainability and direct use key elements for continued growth of Turkey’s geothermal market

Sustainability and direct use key elements for continued growth of Turkey’s geothermal market Group picture, field trip of IGC Turkey 2016 - Gurmat Efeler plant (source: ThinkGeoEnergy, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 27 Jun 2016

At the recently held IGC International Geothermal Conference Turkey, sustainability and the untapped potential for direct and indirect utilization of geothermal resources in Turkey were key themes raised by a wide group of Turkish and international industry representatives.

At the recently held IGC International Geothermal Conference Turkey, sustainability and the untapped potential for direct and indirect utilization of geothermal resources in Turkey were key themes raised by a wide group of Turkish and international industry representatives.

Turkey continues to be the global geothermal industry’s role model. As the fastest growing geothermal market today, the country has shown how it is possible to quickly develop geothermal projects with – in the international context – smaller plants of up to 20-50 MW in power generation capacity.

During the event from 6-8 June 2016, more than 200 leading Turkish and international geothermal experts shared latest developments in geothermal technologies, financing, reservoir management, operations and exploration. At the same time, it was discussed how Turkey’s geothermal sector has developed and how it can continue its incredible growth pace.

“IGC Turkey was a timely event for the Turkish geothermal industry and Izmir, in the heart of the geothermal activities of the country, the right place for it.” Tevfik Kaya, Schlumberger, Turkey.

The elements of IGC Turkey were organized in partnership with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey and Geothermal Power Plants Investors Association (JESDER) of Turkey.

Turkey has still a very much untapped potential for geothermal power generation outside of current development areas and could reach the milestone of 1,000 MW of installed geothermal power generation capacity already in the next 3-4 years at current pace of development. So Turkey is set to join the 1 GW Geothermal Country Club rather sooner than later. It was therefore of importance that the conference also discussed the issue of reservoir management and sustainability, as well as the importance of engaging local stakeholders for a continued public support for development. How to turn the issue of carbon emissions into revenue opportunities was discussed based on case studies in Turkey and Iceland.

There are still greatly untapped opportunities of geothermal direct use, e.g. for heating in greenhouse operations and district heating, but also for spas and related applications that will become important topics for Turkey’s geothermal sector in the years to come.

The presentations are now ready for Download. Participants got their download-link by email. Interested persons can buy the link via agentur@enerchange.de for EUR 150 Euro +VAT.

Pictures from the Ormat-sponsored field trip to three plants in the Menderes Graben can be found here.

The event was co-organized by Enerchange and ThinkGeoEnergy.com and will again be held in May/ June 2016 in Izmir/ Turkey.