Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) — Turkey could achieve its aims of
expanding its electricity supply and cutting reliance on
natural-gas imports by boosting clean energy instead of coal
generation, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The country’s plan to meet rising power demand through 2030
mainly with coal-fired plants would cost almost the same, about
$400 billion, if clean-energy facilities were built, a a new
report from the research company shows. The current plan would
double carbon emissions in the period, while the renewables
alternative would stabilize them after a few years.
“Turkey could pursue a cleaner energy development pathway
to 2030 at similar costs to the coal-based plan that is being
proposed, at the same time as limiting some risks,” said
Michael Liebreich, chairman of BNEF’s advisory board. “Total
costs would be similar and while there might be some extra grid
improvement and balancing costs, there would be reduced exposure
to commodity prices, as well as reduced carbon emissions and air
pollution.”
The government plan assumes that power demand will grow at
more than 5 percent a year by 2030 as the economy expands. It
will lead to a slump in gas-fired generation and a jump in coal
power, as well as more wind and nuclear capacity.
Turkey could prioritize clean energy instead, taking
advantage of the significant cost reductions for electricity
from solar and wind plants in coming years, according to BNEF.
Renewables including hydropower could rise to 47 percent of
generation by 2030 from 29 percent last year, while being cost-effective. Gas generation would drop to 26 percent from more
than 40 percent while coal power would fall to 18 percent from
27 percent.
This alternative would prevent the country from locking in
a carbon-intensive energy system, the company said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Marc Roca in London at
mroca6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Tony Barrett, Randall Hackley