President of the Geothermal Energy Association (JED) Ali Kındap stated that Turkey has a unique working model in the field of geothermal energy and that they are working with a local rate of 70 percent. Kindap said, ‘Geothermal energy is the only energy branch to which we export our experience and knowledge. Our business model is a very different and sought after business model compared to other countries in the world. Because we do turnkey projects in geothermal. In fact, there is no such concept as turnkey in underground mining works such as oil, gas and geothermal. But the Turkish private sector brought the turnkey concept in geothermal to this sector,’ he said.
Kınap told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the share of geothermal energy in Turkey’s installed power is 1.66% and its share in electricity production is 3.2 percent.
Expressing that geothermal is not limited to a single area of use, Kındap emphasized that apart from the installed power of 1686 megawatts, there is also a direct usage power of 5,20 megawatts such as residential and greenhouse heating and tourism.
For a natural gas consumption of more than 60 billion cubic meters
Pointing out that the potential amount discovered as a result of the studies carried out by MTA and the industry is 62 thousand megawatts of heat (MWt), Kınap said, “This is a great potential that can correspond to a natural gas consumption of more than 60 billion cubic meters. It can easily meet the annual gas amount used by Turkey today. It’s energy.” he said.
Stating that there are many Turkish investors investing in different countries at the moment and that these countries are Kenya, Indonesia, Croatia and other Balkan countries, Kınap continued as follows:
“Geothermal energy is the only energy branch to which we export our experience and knowledge. Many of our companies are currently doing business in these countries, both in terms of exploration activities and drilling and power plant investments. Our business model is a very different and sought-after business model compared to other countries in the world. we do turnkey projects in geothermal. Actually, there is no such concept as turnkey in underground mining works such as oil, gas and geothermal. Because working underground requires expertise in many multi-disciplinary fields. But the Turkish private sector brought the concept of turnkey in geothermal to this sector. We have gained the ability to do every job ourselves, from drilling to even operation. Therefore, countries that are candidates for development in geothermal love this feature of us.”
Expressing that the total localization rate in the sector is also very high, Kındap said, “I can say that the total localization rate has easily reached 70 percent at the moment.” used the phrase.
Waiting for new tariff to be announced
Kındap mentioned that the Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism application, whose short name is YEKDEM, is one of the best incentive systems in Turkey, and reminded that the first YEKDEM period expired on December 31, 2020, and a six-month extension was made due to the Kovid-19 outbreak.
Reminding that many renewable energy projects have been realized in this way, and that the second YEKDEM mechanism, which has been implemented, is valid from the second half of 2021 until 2025, Kınap said, “Many conditions have changed in the current mechanism compared to the previous YEKDEM period. The significant drop in prices negatively affected the investment environment, Under current conditions, our industry has the knowledge, technology and capital structure to activate an additional installed capacity of 200-300 megawatts every year. On the other hand, our investments have completely stopped in the new YEKDEM period. However, with reasonable prices and good incentive mechanisms, 62 thousand megawatts We can immediately and quickly commission the 3,500 megawatts of which heat has been discovered and suitable for power plant investments.” he said.
Noting that they realized that these developments in the last two years were insufficient, Kınap said, “It is obvious that both the law and legislation side and the new tariffs do not meet the needs of the sector. Our discussions on this issue continue with our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. We look forward to the new tariff to be announced. I hope that with this tariff, which will be prepared or announced in the coming months, the geothermal energy sector will continue on its way from where it left off before it gets colder.” made its assessment.
Emphasizing the need for the widespread use of geothermal in houses in Turkey, Kındap said, “While Turkey has the potential to easily heat millions of houses, the number of houses heated by geothermal is only 150 thousand as of today. This is a very low figure. On the regulatory side, there is a Heat Law study. “As sector representatives, as we expressed these, a study started there. The Heat Law will be a step that will pave the way for more houses to be heated with geothermal, a domestic and national resource.” used the phrases.
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