Geothermal
Geothermal energy is the heat energy obtained from hot water, steam and dry steam and hot dry rocks, which is formed when heat accumulated in deep subterranean rocks is carried by fluids and stored in reservoirs.
Geothermal resources mainly form around active fault systems and volcanic and magmatic units.
Modern geothermal power plants based on geothermal energy are also regarded as a clean source of energy since emission of CO2, NOx and SOx gases are considerably low here.
Geothermal energy covers all direct and indirect modes of geothermal utilizations. Low-temperature (20 to 70°C) fields are used in industrial applications for the production of chemical substances, and particularly for heating. Medium-temperature (70 to 150°C) and high-temperature (above 150°C) fields can be used, next to electricity generation, for integrated heating applications depending on reinjection conditions.
World's installed geothermal power is 9.700 MW with an annual production of 80 billion kWh, and the first 5 countries in geothermal electricity generation are USA, Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia and Italy. Non-electricity utilization is 33.000 MW. The first 5 world countries in geothermal heating and spa practices are China, Japan, USA, Iceland and Turkey.
Since Turkey is located on the Alpine-Himalayan belt, it holds a substantially high geothermal potential. Geothermal potential of our country is 31.500 MW. Areas with potential are concentrated in Western Anatolia (77,9%). By this day, 13% of said potential (4.000 MW) has been made available by MTA General Directorate of our Ministry.
55% of the geothermal areas in Turkey are suitable for heating practices. In our country, 1200 decares of greenhouses are heated using geothermal energy, and 100.000 households in 15 settlements are also heated with geothermal energy.
Prospecting for geothermal energy was revived recently, and starting from 2003, prospecting works by MTA General Directorate of our Ministry yielded to a geothermal energy source of 840 MW.
While 1.500 MW of our geothermal energy potential is assessed to be suitable for electricity generation, finalized data is so far 600 MW. 39 MW is being used for electricity generation. A 55 MW geothermal power plant is currently under construction.
Source: Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources
