The latest data on the electricity sector in Turkey has come to light. Interesting results were obtained from the research comparing the capacity of coal-fired thermal power plants with wind power plants. The research conducted by the think tank EMBER determined that the capacity utilization rates of wind power plants were higher than domestic coal power plants. The report found that the capacity utilization rate of domestic coal was determined to be 48 percent on average, while this rate was determined to be 71 percent for imported coal. On the other hand, the report calculated the energy production rate of wind, a domestic resource, as 34 percent. As a result of the analyses, it was also emphasized that thermal power plants with a total installed capacity of more than 4 GW were operating 50 percent below their capacity.
CANNOT GET EFFICIENCY
While the report reflects that approximately one-fifth of wind power plants operate at a capacity utilization rate of more than 40 percent, it was also determined that failures in coal-fired power plants cause an annual average production loss of 22 TWh. The report included the following information and findings: “Production loss due to failures in coal has reached a value higher than one-fifth of total production. While failure-related losses in domestic coal power plants are equal to 31 percent of the actual production, this rate was 13 percent in imported coal. While domestic coal power plants experience 1,500 hours of failure time for each TWh of electricity production, this value is 5 times lower than imported coal power plants. times higher.”
EMISSIONS INCREASED
“While electricity production from coal has doubled in the last decade, 118 TWh of electricity production from coal in 2023 was recorded as the highest production in Turkey. As a result of the increased production, coal-based thermal power plants caused 111 million tons of carbon emissions in 2023. In other words, one-fifth of Turkey’s emissions were caused by coal-based thermal power plants alone. The annual increase rate of emissions from coal-fired power plants was 6.2 percent between 2012 and 2023.
SOLUTION ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
In addition to the findings in the report, 973 thousand megawatt-hours of electricity were produced in Turkey on a daily basis the previous day, while consumption was 974 thousand megawatt-hours. The highest electricity consumption was at 21:00 with 45 thousand megawatt-hours, while the lowest consumption was at 07:00 with 33 thousand megawatt-hours. Imported coal power plants were in first place in production with a share of 23.7 percent. This was followed by natural gas power plants with 23.5 percent and lignite power plants with 13.4 percent. EMBER Energy Analyst Bahadır Sercan Gümüş shared the data as follows: “Turkey needs to accelerate its clean energy transformation by using its high potential in solar energy without wasting any time” said.
LIMITS ARE BEING EXCEEDED
On the other hand, in recent months, Greenpeace Mediterranean drew attention to the analysis results obtained from air quality monitoring station data; that the number of cities in Turkey with clean air according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards in terms of PM 10 pollutant in 2023 is quite low.
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