UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Government

Name of Ministry/Agency:

Country:	Turkey

Initiative Title:	The Draft Law on Geothermal Resources and Spring Waters

Internet links:

Scope:

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources

Stakeholders/Partners:	Private Sector Export Credit Agencies

Relevent issues:	- Renewable energy including hydro power

Objectives/Challenges:

1) To utilize geothermal energy resources and spring waters in a sustainable and effective manner by means of investigation, exploration, development, production, and protection of them; 2) To increase the utilization of geothermal energy resources whether in direct use or for generating electricity; 3) To increase the renewable share in energy generation; 4) To decrease the green house gas emissions, to protect the environment; 5) To decrease the reliance on foreign energy resources.

Lessons Learned:

This programme is directly related to the targets of MDGs, WSSD, Renewable Energy Congress, IEA Shared Goals etc.

Summary:

Since the draft Law has not been enacted yet, the positive results or the accepted clear benefits could not been gathered yet. The contribution of geothermal to TPES was 0.86 Mtoe in 2003, including 89 GWh of electricity generation. Turkey has significant potential for geothermal power production equivalent to the one-eighth of the world's total geothermal potential. However, much of this potential which is estimated as 31.5 GWth - is of relatively low enthalpy making it unsuitable for electricity generation but can still be used for direct heating applications. By the end of 2003, Turkey's total direct geothermal heating capacity was 1077 MWth, of which about 461 MWth provided heat for 71 000 residences, 131 MWth for 63.5 hectares of greenhouses, and 327 MWth was used to provide hot water to about 200 spas. The government estimates that 500 000 residences could be heated by geothermal power by 2010, representing heat use of about 3 500 MWth.