TBY talks to
Mustafa Aktaş
General Manager and Chairman of the Board
Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKİ)
THE BUSINESS YEAR: Why is coal important for meeting Turkey’s energy needs?
MUSTAFA AKTAŞ: Until 2005, Turkey’s known coal reserves were 8.3 billion tons. Since 2005, new databases were opened for common usage, and there were new exploration studies; now our known reserves stand at around 14.5 billion tons. Keep in mind that we have only explored 40% of Turkey for coal, which is undertaken by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA), who are part of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Of Turkey’s reserves, Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKİ) own 2.1 billion tons. During the TKİ’s 55-year history, we have served three sectors: housing, industry, and energy. The established energy capacity in Turkey is at 60.121 MW. This comes to 275 billion kWh of energy generated a year. In 2010, Turkey consumed 213 billion kWh, and in 2011 this figure increased to 228 billion kWh. By the end of 2012, consumption will be at 238 billion kWh. Turkey has shown an annual increase of between 8% and 8.5%. This is higher than the annual overall growth rate of the Turkish economy. In the 2000s, per capita energy consumption was at 1,550 kWh per year. Now this figure is at 3,300 kWh per year. The level of development of a country is directly proportionate to the level of energy consumption. Countries in the OECD have a per capita energy consumption of around 12,000 kWh per year. In Turkey, it’s only a quarter of that amount.
How is the government looking at the coal sector to fill that gap?
Our government wants to increase our energy production in 2023 to 100 billion MWh per annum, which is 500 million kWh of energy produced per year. Of the installed energy production, 48% comes from natural gas conversion plants. That’s the biggest share. However, by 2023, we want domestic resources to make up the main share rather than imported natural gas. Both private and public sector companies have to collaborate to achieve this goal. TKİ has undertaken a study that looks at how to increase the share of coal in overall energy production, and how to increase production at our coal plants. Of the 60.121 MW installed capacity, 8,516 MW is accounted for by domestic coal.
What kind of R&D activities are you involved in?
Every fossil fuel gives off environmentally damaging emissions, and this of course also includes coal. We in Turkey are very sensitive to environmental issues, especially considering our efforts to join the EU. We have R&D projects to not only increase efficiency in production, but also to produce cleaner output. We work with universities, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), and other companies to this purpose, and we are interested in applying the technologies of countries like Australia and Germany. We signed an agreement with ThyssenKrupp from Germany. In the Soma basin there will be 6 million tons of coal produced per year, as well as 1.5 billion cubic meters of syn gas, which will be produced from that coal. That will account for one-ninth of all household consumption of coal and gas in Turkey. In 2013, we plan on creating a joint venture with ThyssenKrupp. We’ve also set up a microbiological laboratory with a US company from Kentucky called Arctech, where we will produce microbiological products. There are microorganisms that eat the coal to produce methane gases and humic acid that can be used to clean polluted water. It can also be used for agriculture, as well as to degrade heavy metals. This is a small pilot facility for now, but we will eventually expand it for commercial purposes. TKİ aims to create a facility with Arctech to produce 600,000 cubic meters of methane gas. We will convert that to electricity with a diesel generator.
What do you have to say to those who say coal is a thing of the past?
Until the 1990s, coal was very important. With environmental factors, the Kyoto Protocol, and the importing of natural gas to Turkey in the 2000s, coal receded somewhat as an energy source. Nevertheless, the sheer amount of available coal not only in Turkey but throughout the world, as well as the development of new technologies, means that coal will continue to be very important. In Turkey, coal is now referred to as the energy source of the future.
Can Turkey achieve its Vision 2023 goals without coal?
No, it’s impossible without coal. We want 30% of the targeted energy production of 100 billion MWh per year in 2023 to be from coal. If you consider that present day share of coal is at 17%, then coal’s share in the overall production of energy will be doubled. Coal is essential as an energy source. Of course, energy production diversity is very important. You don’t want to be reliant on a single source. Prices, politics, and environmental factors always fluctuate, so it’s good to diversify your portfolio, not just in terms of energy types, but also the countries that you important energy and technologies from. Maybe in the future you’ll develop the technology to utilize deep-water magma and produce electricity from the vapor that results. In that case, you could forget coal. But until a revolutionary new technology is developed, you have to rely on coal. This having been said, I believe we also need to establish nuclear facilities in Turkey. Diversity is very important, and nuclear power should also be added to Turkey’s energy production portfolio. The nuclear disaster in Japan has refocused the world’s attention on the importance of coal, meaning we should continue to pursue and develop R&D efforts and technologies to make coal production and related emissions as environmentally friendly as possible.
In numbers
Established: 1957
Total Turkish coal reserves: 14.5 billion tons
TKİ coal reserves: 2.1 billion tons
Installed coal power capacity: 8,516 MW
