“When we break production records in renewable energy sources such as wind and sun… When we discover supernatural gas resources in the Black Sea… We understand how important the investments made and the energy policies carried out during the period when Berat Albayrak was the Minister of Energy,” said Mevlüt Tezel stated that the “coal” issue was skipped. In his column in Sabah newspaper, Tezel stated that all of Albayrak’s policies to increase domestic resources in coal are adhered to, and said:
“When we break production records in renewable energy sources such as wind and sun… When we discover high natural gas resources in the Black Sea… We understand how important the investments made and the energy policies carried out during the period when Berat Albayrak was the Minister of Energy.”
But there is one thing we forgot: Coal!
According to the newly announced International Energy Agency ‘Coal 2022’ report, global coal consumption in 2022 increased by 1.2 percent compared to the previous year, while the increase in the European Union (EU) reached 6.5 percent!
Environmentalist European countries suddenly became coal miners when Russia cut off natural gas, okay?
Countries such as Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Austria have taken steps to extend the life of coal-fired power plants, re-commissioning the power plants that have been shut down, and increasing current production.
However, at the time when coal mines in Europe were closed one after another, Albayrak proudly explained that the share of coal in the electricity generation portfolio increased from 12 percent to 16 percent at the 1st Domestic Coal Action Plan Workshop in November 2015.
Remember the period between 2015-2018 when anti-coal lobbies put pressure on Albayrak!
While the opposition parties were harshly criticizing that “Europe has abandoned coal. To reduce carbon emissions, we must give up coal”, Albayrak resisted by saying “Turkey is among the countries that pollute the world the least in terms of emissions”!
SMART COAL STRATEGY
At the 2nd Local Coal Action Plan Workshop in 2017, the ‘Smart Coal Strategy’ was launched in an environmentally friendly manner.
This was a strategy to increase coal production with minimal impact on carbon emissions.
Albayrak also drew attention to domestic production: “When Turkey has 18 billion tons of coal reserves, there is a problem here if nearly 40 million tons of coal is imported annually.”
That problem has been largely resolved. Domestic production has been increased. And in 2022, Turkey’s total coal resource increased to 20.84 billion tons.
As of July 2022, Turkey supplied 20.7 percent of its total power from coal. Turkey meets 11.2 percent of this amount from domestic coal production.
The real success was the adherence to the Paris Climate Agreement with the ‘Smart Coal Strategy’ while increasing coal production.
European countries that support anti-coal lobbying activities in Turkey are now breaking records in coal production!
In summary, Albayrak’s policies to expand the energy spectrum and increase domestic resources in many areas from solar to wind, from hydroelectric to coal and natural gas have all worked.
At a time when Europe was struggling with the energy crisis and the coal mines were opened one by one, Albayrak was right again!”
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