Mediterranean Action Plan

TURKEY - National Study
In Turkey, 400 geothermal production wells and 300 gradient wells have been drilled until
now. Of these, 305 wells were drilled by the MTA with a total well depth of nearly 120,000 m.
The regional distribution of the wells drilled by the MTA is as follows [46,73]: 87% in western
Turkey, 11% in middle Anatolian, and 2% in eastern Turkey, while the temperature
distribution is given in Table 61, where most of the high temperature geothermal fluids exist
in the western part of Turkey [75].
In Turkey, the investments in geothermal heating systems have been supported by
consumers due to the tariff on geothermal heat, which is held constant during the entire year.
The investment cost for geothermal district heating systems per residence with a floor area of
100 m 2 is about 1500–2500 US$ (excluding heater costs in the residence), while the payback
period varies between 5 and 8 years. About 30–50% of the investment costs has been paid
by consumers as a connection subscription fee, like a capital investment. The heating fees
(2001 heating season) were in the range of 14–29 US$ [73,129].
Turkish heating systems differ in many respects from those of the developed countries.
Stoves are widely used in single family houses and also apartments. Furthermore, both
single family and multi-family houses are heated by using hydronic systems. In this context,
using geothermal energy obviously will reduce the use of other forms of energy, especially
fossil fuels and, hence, eliminate pollutants such as particulates and greenhouse gases in
the country.
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