An Update on Geothermal Energy Potential of Turkey

Abstract

Nearly 274 geothermal occurrences and fields are known to exist in Turkey according to MTA (the state owned directorate) records. About 20 of them are already being exploited at large scale for direct and indirect geothermal energy use, many fields are mainly used for balneological purposes by local public, and while others still to be developed. Yet hopes also exist to explore and discover new fields.

In this study, the production data of the exploited fields as well as the available field and fluid data of the unexploited fields are evaluated to estimate the amount of energy producible from each field under the existing field and operational conditions. Estimating the energy potential in terms of maximum capacity or annual energy use of an exploited field with the actual production data is relatively easier than for the unexploited field with non-existing production data. The geothermal inventory data given by M.T.A., and also the data available for the fields studied in the literature and as well as by our department were used for this purpose.

The preliminary results of our study are presented in this paper. The estimated geothermal energy potentials available for electricity generation, district heating systems, and other individual and/or integrated applications were classified according to the temperature of the produced fluid and the results are given in tables and figures. Taking into account of produced and outflowing geothermal fluids, the total geothermal potential is about 3000-3500 MWt of which 1200-1500 MWt is adequate for power generation from 11 known middle and high enthalpy fields. Our continuing efforts are concentrated in collecting updated field data and obtaining proper guesses for the missing ones. Moreover, further work is planned to obtain accessible geothermal potential of Turkey by evaluating existing geological, geochemical and geophysical data and using Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, some lumped parameter modeling approaches are to be utilized to refine the results on known and most studied geothermal fields.