Our country’s energy needs continue to increase rapidly with each passing day correspondingly with our development and growth. As of 2015, we have an installed capacity of 72 thousand megawatts. 72% of our energy usage comes from external sources proving that we are dependent on them. Currently, we import 98% of natural gas, 92% of oil and 30% of coal.
Our country is ranked as the first in Europe in terms of electricity demand and second in the world after China. So we are an energy poor country. Our external dependence increases day by day.This is clearly evident in the 2030 target we announced to the world for climate change. Turkey’s energy demand will be doubled our current needs in 2030, and increase to 150 thousand megawatts. So how and from where will we meet this demand? In almost all developed countries nuclear power plants have been generating electricity for years.
The USA has 104 nuclear power plants which is the largest number of power plants in a country.There are 58 nuclear power stations in France, 54 in Japan, 32 in Russia, 20 in South Korea, 17 in Germany, 19 in India, 15 in Ukraine and 12 in China. They continue to build new ones. Nuclear power plants seem to be a clean energy resource that does not emit pollutants to the atmosphere which means that it has little impact on climate change. And as a country, we are planning to build 2 nuclear power plants.
Our own resources are important however recently, renewable energy technologies quickly became cheaper when China got involved, and as a result of this, world countries rapidly started to turn onto renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biogas and geothermal power.They are slowly abandoning coal power plants. Renewable energy growing all around the world and that is why the oil prices become cheaper. 50 thousand megawatts of renewable energy in the world in 2004, has reached 700 thousand megawatts in 2015 and this number is 10 times higher than the total power installed capacity in Turkey.
The investment the world had made to renewable energy in 2004 was 45 billion dollars and in 2015 it has reached to 270 billion dollars. We attended a Climate Change themed Main Economies meeting last year in Washington. The Secretary of State John Kerry said that the share of renewable energy in the US alone was 13 trillion dollars. You can estimate where this number can reach worldwide.
As a country we should also place a great emphasis on renewable energy as our own resource and put the new plants into effect. Turkey’s 2030 target in wind and the solar is to produce 30 thousand megawatt renewable energy. So why can’t we produce more renewable energy? When we asked this question to the Ministry of Energy, their respond was very interesting.They gave us a reasonable one. Do you know how much of the 4800 megawatt wind energy we have planned in our country until now has been stopped by the courts?
Harsh reality: 2800 megawatts, nearly more than a half have been cancelled by the courts. Many of them have been canceled as a result of objections made by non-governmental organizations under the pretext of bird migration and forest areas.
We do not build thermal plants because they cause pollution for the environment, we do not build nuclear power plants because they can be dangerous, we do not build hydroelectric power plants as they destroy nature, we are against solar powers as they destroy farming areas and they occupy a large area, let’s call it the forest area, protected area, let’s oppose all types of renewable energy.
But Japan builds 4800 megawatts of solar energy in the sea, however we say no to those plants and we protest them. You see the wind plants all over Europe even in the sea. Solar farms are growing all over the world. In our country however, we have solar power plants up to 1 megawatt which can be built without license.It is wrong to assume that most of the obstacles to those who want to invest in renewable energy are bureaucratic. However, successive decisions to stop the execution holds back the invesments and this causes the system to block. The most important factor in reducing the dependence on foreign sources and increasing economic enrichment of our country is to switch to renewable energy.It is inevitable.
How can we meet the demands of electricity of the increasing population? If we are against the coal power plants, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and use bird migration, protected areas, farming areas and forest lands as an excuse and protest wind and solar plants, we have nothing left. It is an opposition against the growth and development of Turkey. How much can we rely on the natural gas power plants we buy from neighbors? Natural gas is a good choice for heating but it is expensive in terms of electricity generation.
We have no choice but to switch to renewable energy such as geothermal, wind, solar, biogas and hydroelectric power plants as soon as possible, to prevent climate change and our own resources. We have to build those quickly and become economically independent. So what is the solution? If country cannot ensure its energy independence, it is not possible to have its real independence.If we want our economy to be more effective and for our next generations to live in beter conditions, we have only one option. It is renewable energy. It is not only important for us but also for the next generations’ health, peace and prosperity.
The solution is that the government and the relevant ministries encourage the investor in renewable energy, opening up international credit facilities for the investor, and for the non-governmental organizations do not object to renewable energy projects for unnecessary reasons.When we get rid of the mentality of ‘we wont let you’, we will leave a more independent, more prosperous and rich Turkey for the next generations.
