156 O. BAYULGEN
What complicates this picture of heavy reliance on fossil fuels is that
Turkey is poor in indigenous fossil fuel resources, except for low-quality
coal (lignite), and imports almost all of its oil, natural gas, and hard coal.
Between 2007 and 2017, hard coal imports increased by 95.7%, oil products by 160%, and natural gas by 105%. 3 In 2017, domestic fossil fuel
production met only 18% of the high energy demand and Turkey was
among the largest importers of natural gas, coal, and oil products in the
world (5th, 7th, and 7th respectively). 4
The fact that most of energy consumption is met by imports poses
a major energy security problem for Turkey. Rapidly increasing energy
consumption means growing import dependency on countries that have
complicated relations with it. For instance, in 2015, 11% of Turkey’s
oil, 56% of its natural gas, and 33% of its hard coal came from Russia
alone. Russia’s Gazprom was by far the largest single natural gas supplier
to Turkey. 5 Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia follow Russia in supplying the
majority of Turkey’s energy needs. Since 2002, energy imports have also
played a major role in the persistent current account deficits Turkey had
to grapple with. For example, in 2017, the country paid $37.19 billion
for its energy imports, roughly 79% of its account deficit. 6
In addition to supply security and economic vulnerability concerns,
Turkey also faces major environmental challenges as a result of its
energy profile. High dependence on fossil fuels and high energy intensity
contribute to rapidly increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For
instance, compared to 1990, power sector emissions were 332% higher in
2018. 7 When non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG) are included, Turkey
is the world’s 20th-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) and ranks
first in terms of emissions growth among Annex I countries since 2006. 8
As one alternative to fossil fuels, Turkey has accelerated its efforts to
develop nuclear energy in the past decade. Even though most Turkish
governments have been interested in nuclear energy since the 1960s, the
Justice and Development Party (AKP) government signed its first agreement with Russia in 2010 to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant
in Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast with an estimated capacity of
4.8 gigawatts. A second nuclear project for 4.6 gigawatts in Sinop has
also been signed with a Japanese-French consortium in May 2013. The
government expects to have at least 10% of the electricity generation from
nuclear by 2023, which is unrealistic at this point since construction on
the Akkuyu project just started last year and has been encountering many
delays since. 9 Aside from the obvious environmental and safety issues
What complicates this picture of heavy reliance on fossil fuels is that
Turkey is poor in indigenous fossil fuel resources, except for low-quality
coal (lignite), and imports almost all of its oil, natural gas, and hard coal.
Between 2007 and 2017, hard coal imports increased by 95.7%, oil products by 160%, and natural gas by 105%. 3 In 2017, domestic fossil fuel
production met only 18% of the high energy demand and Turkey was
among the largest importers of natural gas, coal, and oil products in the
world (5th, 7th, and 7th respectively). 4
The fact that most of energy consumption is met by imports poses
a major energy security problem for Turkey. Rapidly increasing energy
consumption means growing import dependency on countries that have
complicated relations with it. For instance, in 2015, 11% of Turkey’s
oil, 56% of its natural gas, and 33% of its hard coal came from Russia
alone. Russia’s Gazprom was by far the largest single natural gas supplier
to Turkey. 5 Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia follow Russia in supplying the
majority of Turkey’s energy needs. Since 2002, energy imports have also
played a major role in the persistent current account deficits Turkey had
to grapple with. For example, in 2017, the country paid $37.19 billion
for its energy imports, roughly 79% of its account deficit. 6
In addition to supply security and economic vulnerability concerns,
Turkey also faces major environmental challenges as a result of its
energy profile. High dependence on fossil fuels and high energy intensity
contribute to rapidly increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For
instance, compared to 1990, power sector emissions were 332% higher in
2018. 7 When non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG) are included, Turkey
is the world’s 20th-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) and ranks
first in terms of emissions growth among Annex I countries since 2006. 8
As one alternative to fossil fuels, Turkey has accelerated its efforts to
develop nuclear energy in the past decade. Even though most Turkish
governments have been interested in nuclear energy since the 1960s, the
Justice and Development Party (AKP) government signed its first agreement with Russia in 2010 to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant
in Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast with an estimated capacity of
4.8 gigawatts. A second nuclear project for 4.6 gigawatts in Sinop has
also been signed with a Japanese-French consortium in May 2013. The
government expects to have at least 10% of the electricity generation from
nuclear by 2023, which is unrealistic at this point since construction on
the Akkuyu project just started last year and has been encountering many
delays since. 9 Aside from the obvious environmental and safety issues