Hydroelectricity in Turkey
In 2021, 56
Water resources
Climate change has reduced rainfall in some regions and has made it less regular, which has put stress on hydroelectric power plants.[10] Between 1979 and 2019 annual precipitation fluctuated from over 60 cm to under 45 cm,[10] and average annual temperatures varied by 4 degrees.[10]
Turkey is already aHydroelectric potential
In 2021, hydropower was the cheapest source of electricity in Turkey,
Due to climate change in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, reduced precipitation is forecast, such as happened with the 2020 drought,[16][17][18] which caused a generation drop of over 10% compared to the previous year.[19] In 2021, partly due to the drought, generation by non-hydro renewables overtook hydro for the first time.[20] To conserve hydropower, solar power is being added next to existing hydropower,[21] such as at the Lower Kaleköy Dam.[22] Adding hydropower to existing irrigation dams may also be feasible.[23]
Energy storage and dispatchability
Hydropower usually peaks in April or May.[24] Adding pumps to existing dams, to store wind and solar power as hydropower, has been suggested as more feasible than building new dams with pumps.[25] Although dammed hydro can be dispatched within 3 to 5 minutes,[26] according to analysts at S&P Global, such generation instructions from the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation can be countermanded by the State Hydraulic Works, which may have contributed to blackouts in August 2021.[27]
History
The first power plant of any kind in Turkey was
Following the 1973 oil crisis, the government began the Southeastern Anatolia Project, both for energy security and to help the poorer southeastern part of Anatolia catch up with the growing economy.[30] Amongst other developments, such as irrigation projects, several hydropower plants were built.[33] By 1988, hydropower comprised over 60% of total electrical generation. Before that, coal had been the only other substantial source. Around the same time, natural gas also began to play an important role.[20] The Southeastern Anatolia project cost 190.8 billion lira (US$ 34 billion, at 2020 prices).[34] According to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, by 2021 this cost was recovered in the value of the electricity alone.[33] Almost 25% of the country's hydroelectricity is now produced by the project.[30][35]
However, some Kurds have called the project "mass cultural destruction".[30] Most of the project has been completed, but at least one dam (Silvan Dam) and hydroelectric power plant are still under construction.[36] The project is controversial with the downstream countries of Iraq and Syria.[37] According to Dr. Arda Bilgen, the reduced flow of the Euphrates was one reason Syria supported PKK attacks on Turkey in the 1980s.[30] Since the Syrian Civil War started in 2011, international water cooperation has been very difficult.[30]
Since the beginning of the 21st century, private companies have been able to get long leases on rivers,[38] and DSI has mainly coordinated and supervised, rather than constructing its own power plants.[30] Particularly in the north-east of Turkey, small-scale projects were developed. Contrary to expectations, these did not bring about more consensus and local acceptance than large dams.[38]
Projects
The
The province with the most hydroelectricity capacity is Şanliurfa, with over 3 GW, followed by Elazığ and Diyarbakır, each with over 2 GW.[28] The highest dam is Yusufeli.[40]
Largest power stations
The three longest rivers in Turkey also have the highest capacity hydropower plants, the largest being Atatürk Dam on the Euphrates. On the same river are the second and third largest. Ilısu on the Tigris is the newest large dam. In contrast, the Kızılırmak River, which flows north into the Black Sea, has smaller projects. Its hydro plants are less than 1 GW, the largest being Altınkaya.[41]
Impacts on people and the environment
The dams and their hydroelectric power plants have had positive and negative impacts on the environment. One of the most useful features of hydroelectric power plants is that generation can be quickly ramped up and down, to meet demand and balance wind and solar. Compared to fossil-fuel power plants, the country's hydroelectricity emits much less greenhouse gas. Being a local source, it improves the balance of payments, since Turkey imports around three-quarters of its energy.[42]
As well as
In some areas locals are concerned that dams result in a decrease in nature tourism.[38] Like national energy policy as a whole,[49] decision-making for dam construction is centralized and not always transparent, which can lead to complaints by local people.[38] Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by reservoirs.[50] Archaeologists, such as Nevin Soyukaya, say that there has been disregard for the damage to ancient settlements, such as at Hasankeyf.[51]
Dams on international rivers, such as the controversial Ilısu Dam on the Tigris completed in 2021, can cause water shortages in downstream countries; to wit,
Economics
As of February 2022[update], the feed-in tariff (FiT – excluding domestic components incentive) was 400 Turkish lira (TL)/MWh (about US$29), more than solar and wind but less than geothermal.[57] However, in late 2021 the government and private-sector energy analysts had already predicted that the day-ahead price on the electricity market throughout 2022 would be higher than the FiT for the first year, thus resulting in a negative contract for difference.[57] By late March 2022, the spot price of electricity had reached the ceiling (thrice the average price over the past 12 months) of 1745 TL (more than US$115),[58] and the energy ministry was reported to be considering different ceiling prices for different sources of electricity.[59] It is not yet known what the ceiling price of hydroelectricity will be, or even if such a scheme will actually be legislated. Because transmission congestion of run-of-river can cause price imbalances, zonal pricing has been proposed.[60] As of November 2022[update] 10 hydropower stations are eligible for capacity mechanism payments.[61]
Politics
Many dams were built by Republican People's Party governments in the 20th century. However, the party's current stance on hydropower is unclear. Its 2018 general election manifesto did not mention it, and the party has opposed many recent dam projects, mostly due to environmental concerns.[62] The Justice and Development Party, which has been in power nationwide since 2002 (in coalition with the Nationalist Movement Party since 2016), has also built many dams and encouraged private companies to build run-of-river hydro. According to its party platform, the Good Party "supports the utilization of local and renewable resources to their fullest extent", which includes hydropower.[63] The Peoples' Democratic Party, in contrast, is more opposed to hydroelectric plants due to their impact on communities and environments.[64] Arda Bilgen, a Turkish academic, says that since the 1960s the central government (inspired primarily by the United States Bureau of Reclamation) has used dam building to strengthen the central government's hold over Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, to help grow these regions' economies, using a top-down approach.[30]
Turkey was one of three countries that voted against the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention, which is the main international freshwater law. According to Nareg Kuyumjian at the Environmental Law Institute, this was because Turkey benefited from "hydroanarchy".[56]
Notes
References
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