Coal will continue to be the main energy source
IS IT POSSIBLE TO QUIT COAL CONSUMPTION?
Annual coal consumption hovers around 7.5 billion tons globally, according to the 2019 data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA). 17% of global energy consumption is met by coal. Coal is also the most important source of power generation. It is a dominant fossil fuel on a global scale for electricity generation, according to the British Petroleum Corporation’s (BP) 2021 Statistical Review of World Energy report. Neither the world nor Turkey is ready to abandon coal all at once. To desist from coal means not being able to meet the demand met by the energy supply received from coal. However, energy demand increases each day in the world and in Turkey.
Even in the optimistic scenario put forth by the IEA, based on forecasts that the usage of renewables or alternative fuels and energy efficiency will increase and that efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be developed, coal will keep its share in the global energy supply through 2040. Alternative energy resources won’t meet the energy demand after fossil fuels are abandoned and alternative energy sources such as renewables and nuclear energy won’t be enough in terms of reliability and continuity. Coal will continue to be used as long as the ‘Carbon Age’ continues.
WHAT DOES ‘COAL’ MEAN FOR THE TURKISH ECONOMY?
Energy demand increases each day in Turkey and around the world. It’s essential to meet this energy need for the continuation of the development in industry and manufacturing. That’s why our priority is always to meet Turkey’s energy demand with domestic resources. In line with this, our main goal is to bring domestic coal, the national wealth of Turkey, into the economy and to reduce the foreign dependency on energy.
HOW MUCH COAL DOES TURKEY HOLD?
Turkey holds around 2.1% of global coal reserves and the country has an important place in terms of lignite, according to the 2020 Coal and Energy Report prepared by the Chamber of Mining Engineers of Turkey (TMMOB). Turkey’s coal reserves have approached nearly 21 billion tons as a result of the reserve research carried out along international guidelines. 1.5 billion of this consists of hard coal with high calorific value (averagely 5,500-6,500 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg)). 19.5 billion tons consists of relatively low-calorie lignite. The burning temperature of 90% of Turkey’s lignite reserves ranges between 1,000 and 3,000 calories. The tempurature of 1% of them is 4,000 calories and above.
ARE THE COAL RESERVES HELD BY TURKEY SUF˹ FICIENT IN TERMS OF QUALITY?
83% of the total marketable lignite was consumed to generate electricity in thermal power plants in 2020, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The share of industrial consumption was 10.8% and the share of consumption for heating stood at 6.2%. This shows that the quality of the coal produced in Turkey complies with the need of thermal power plants to a large extent. Coal-fired thermal power plants in Turkey have a total installed capacity of 20,382 megawatts (MW), corresponding to 20.44% of the country’s total installed power.
CAN TURKEY QUIT COAL CONSUMPTION IF AL˹ TERNATIVES ARE DEVELOPED?
Coal is not just an energy resource. It is also used in many different sectors, such as agriculture, cosmetics, and health, thanks to the valuable minerals it contains. The ratio of rare earth elements in Turkey’s lignite reserves is quite above the global average according to research conducted on the coal burned in our thermal power plants. As the General Directorate of Turkish Coal Enterprises, we work to obtain the rare earth elements in coal with the solvent extraction and membrane method in collaboration with the Turkish Energy, Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK). As part of a project that will be carried out in collaboration with TENMAK and Istanbul Technical University (ITU), technological studies will reveal the resource potential of coal and thermal power plants, and the elements with economic importance will be be obtained from the ashes of coal as byproducts.
HOW MUCH DOES THE DOMESTIC COAL PRODUC˹ TION MEET THE COAL NEED OF TURKEY?
Turkey’s energy consumption has increased by 36.36% while energy production has risen by 42% over the past decade. Although the increase in Turkey’s energy production significantly lagged in the face of the surge in energy consumption in 2015, the rate of increase in both approached each other in 2019. The domestic production/consumption coverage ratio, which stood at 23.9% in 2015, has reached 31.05% as of 2019. The domestic coal production/energy consumption coverage ratio, which hovered around 11.52% in 2018, hit 12.01% in 2019.
WHAT IS THE SHARE OF COAL IN POWER GEN˹ ERATION?
Turkey generated 305 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2020. Coal-fired thermal power plants took the lion’s share in total power generation with 34.83%. The share of domestic coal-based production hovers around 14.38% in total production. 20.45% is generated by imported coal. The share of domestic and imported coal in electricity generation exceeded 30% in 2021.
HOW CAN TURKEY’S COAL RESERVES BE MORE EFFICIENTLY USED?
The existing coal reserves should be examined for efficiency with the support of new and clean technologies. The efficient usage, especially, of lignite sources will lead to the construction of thermal power plants per the features of the domestic lignite, and will put a primacy on waste heat recovery.
CAN THE USAGE OF COAL BE EXPANDED?
The fields of use for coal should be developed considering the environmental legislation that will bring Turkey’s reserves to the economy. Within this framework, various R&D projects are carried out under the umbrella of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to obtain value-added products in an environmentally friendly manner using clean coal technologies.
“Our priority is to meet Turkey’s energy demand with domestic resources and our main goal is to bring domestic coal, the national wealth of Turkey, into the economy and to reduce the dependency on foreign energy.”