Research Information System
GEOTHERMICS, vol.101, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
The history of geothermal development in Turkey is traced from 1968 when the first wells were drilled through 2021. It reveals the remarkable exponential growth in installed power capacity beginning in 2006. Most of the recent growth centers on the use of binary plants at resources with moderate temperature, but where the re-sources exhibit high enthalpy and high temperature, several novel combined flash-binary plants have set a standard for high efficiency. The growth has been stimulated by governmental policies aimed at providing in-centives to developers that mitigate the inherent risk of exploration drilling. Several regions, all in the western section of the country, have been identified as commercial areas for development, and other areas to the east may prove to be effective for extending the geothermal prospects across the whole country. Turkey now ranks second in the world in terms of the number of geothermal power units, and fourth in installed power capacity. It is unlikely that the observed exponential growth of the last 15 years can be sustained, but as new areas become discovered, Turkey may yet continue increasing its standing among those countries of the world using geothermal resources for the generation of electricity.