Mediterranean Action Plan

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ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
market segment (11.5% annually) with gas expanding from 2.5 to 38.4 bcm during 2000–
2025 and eventually accounting for 23% of total gas consumption (Figure 8) [28].
Natural gas is Turkey‟s chosen fuel for new power plant capacity development due to several
requirements. These are firstly for environmental reasons because gas is less polluting than
coal, lignite, or oil; secondly, for geographic reasons because Turkey is close to very large
amounts of gas in the Middle East and Central Asia; and thirdly, for economic reasons
because Turkey could balance part of its energy import bill through transit fees it could
charge for oil and gas shipments across its territory and seas; and lastly, for political reasons
because Turkey is looking to develop strong relations with Caspian and Central Asian
Countries, some of which are naturally very big gas exporters [15].
Table 35 The sectoral natural gas demand in Turkey, 1990-2020 [30]
Turkish natural gas production was 23 Bcf in 2000. This met around 4 % of domestic natural
gas consumption needs [15]. The sectoral natural gas demand is shown in Table 35 [30]
according to years. This table shows that natural gas consumption in industry has increased
from year to year and this increase tends to proceed. Main natural gas producers in Turkey
are Arco, TPAO, and Shell. Marmara Kuzey (known as North Marmara in English), which
founded in May 1997, is the country‟s largest non-associated gas field. Marmara Kuzey is
placed offshore in the Thrace-Gallipoli Basin of Marmara Sea [15].
Policy makers in the early 1970s had targeted lignite as the most abundant domestic source
of hydrocarbons, and production grew rapidly from an average of about 7.9 million tons for
the 1970-75 period to more than 31 million tons in 1985. Mines operated by the state-owned
Turkish Lignite Company are responsible for about two-thirds of output; private firms produce
the remainder [166]. Production of hard coal is entirely controlled by the government-owned
Turkish Coal Company, which suffers from poor management and outmoded technology.
Coal production is also hampered by the great depth of the country's deposits. Hard coal
output fell from around 6.5 million tons in 1976 to about 3.8 million tons in 1983, and unit
costs exceeded those of coal imports. As a result of these trends, Turkey was beginning to
import coal for use in power plants. In 1992 Turkey produced about 12 million tons of coal
and imported a net of about 4.2 million tons. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of workers
in Turkey‟s coal sector fell from 63,993 to 35,665. Turkish coal is generally of lower than
average quality. It is used mainly for power generation [166].
Coal is a major fuel source for Turkey, used primarily for power generation, steel
manufacturing and cement production. Turkish coal consumption has remained roughly