Domestic coal is far from providing a baseload in Türkiye

This report by Ember analyzes the performance of coal-fired power plants in Türkiye, concluding that domestic coal plants fail to provide reliable baseload electricity due to low efficiency, high failure rates, and low capacity factors. The study highlights that coal generation reached a record 118 TWh in 2023, contributing 20% of the country's total emissions, and argues for an accelerated transition to renewable energy to meet climate targets and reduce economic losses.

• Coal-fired electricity generation in Türkiye reached a record high of 118 TWh in 2023, with coal accounting for 36% of the country's total electricity generation that year. This represents a doubling of coal-generated electricity over the last decade.
• Coal power plants are responsible for 20% of Türkiye's total carbon emissions. In 2023, these plants caused 111 million tons of carbon emissions, with an annual growth rate of 6.2% between 2012 and 2023.
• Domestic coal plants fail to meet baseload requirements due to low capacity factors and availability. The average capacity factor for domestic coal was 48% over the last five years, and their average availability rate was 52%, meaning only 5.4 GW of the 10.4 GW installed domestic coal capacity was actually capable of generating electricity.
• Domestic coal plants suffer from significant production losses due to malfunctions, averaging 22 TWh annually across all coal plants. Specifically, domestic coal plants experienced losses equivalent to 31% of their total generation, with downtime averaging 1,500 hours per TWh generated—five times higher than imported coal plants.
• The efficiency of Türkiye's lignite plants is 15% below the EU average. State-owned EÜAŞ lignite plants had an average energy efficiency of 33.9%, while privately operated lignite plants were lower at 31.5%, compared to an EU average of 38%.
• Türkiye's domestic coal reserves are primarily low-quality lignite (93% of total reserves), which has low energy potential and high moisture. This results in high fuel consumption; lignite plants use approximately 1,722 kg of coal per 1 MWh, compared to 350 kg for imported coal plants.
• Türkiye's current energy plans and plant licenses contradict its climate goals. The National Energy Plan (UEP) anticipates coal installed capacity will exceed 24 GW by 2035, and some plant licenses extend until 2069, meaning coal capacity may not fall below 1 GW until 2065.

APA

Gümüş, B. S. (2024). Domestic coal is far from providing a baseload in Türkiye. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Domestic-coal-is-far-from-providing-a-baseload-in-Turkiye.pdf

Chicago

Gümüş, Bahadır Sercan. Domestic coal is far from providing a baseload in Türkiye. Ember, 2024. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Domestic-coal-is-far-from-providing-a-baseload-in-Turkiye.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gümüş |first1=Bahadır Sercan |title=Domestic coal is far from providing a baseload in Türkiye |publisher=Ember |date=6 August 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Domestic-coal-is-far-from-providing-a-baseload-in-Turkiye.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gm2024domestic, author = {Gümüş, Bahadır Sercan}, title = {{Domestic coal is far from providing a baseload in Türkiye}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Domestic-coal-is-far-from-providing-a-baseload-in-Turkiye.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }