The "Indigenization in the Energy Sector - Domestic Equipment Production for Thermal Power Plants Seminar" organized by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry took place at the Odakule Assembly Hall on January 14. The opening speeches of the seminar were delivered by M. Ata Ceylan, Member of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) and Chairman of the Energy Specialization Board, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Makaracı, Vice President of Strategy and Technology Development of TÜBİTAK MAM, and Halil Alış, General Manager of Electricity Generation Co. ISO Board Member Nurhan Kaya also attended the seminar.
During the seminar, success stories and experiences on the domestic production of equipment for thermal power plants were shared. Emphasis was placed on academic studies, identifying requirements and establishing collaborations. In addition, information was given on domestic market supply, localization in thermal power plant technologies, procurement items, design and manufacturing capabilities of the domestic industry.
In his opening speech, M. Ata Ceylan emphasized the importance of indigenization to reduce foreign dependency, increase national income and create employment. Pointing out that many countries invest in domestic resources and domestic technologies for energy supply security, Ceylan said:
"We are faced with the fact that the weight of natural gas use in electricity generation in our country has increased to the detriment of domestic resources, especially lignite-based thermal power plants. The problems we are experiencing in the political arena with Russia demonstrate once again the necessity of 'diversification of energy sources' due to 'energy supply security' and the Paris Climate Change Agreement shows that 'renewable energy' is a sine qua non of energy policies. Although our natural gas dependency cannot be resolved in a short period of time, we hope that this crisis will lead us to take greater steps in using our domestic energy resources and energy efficiency."
TÜBİTAK MAM Vice President of Strategy and Technology Development Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Makaracı noted that they want to take Turkey to the next level in energy projects. Makaracı said the following:
TÜBİTAK MAM Strategy and Technology
Vice President of Development
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Makaraci
"We started our first work in 2006 with the project of utilization of waste heat from thermal power plants together with EÜAŞ. At the point we have reached in these 10 years, we continue to develop various projects. Thermal power plants were visited on site many times. Projects were put forward as a basis for R&D projects. For the first time in Turkey, a team was formed in the field of thermal power plants. We have a team of approximately 15 people. As of the end of 2015, approximately 68 percent of the electricity consumed in our country was produced from thermal power plant technology. The share of natural gas-fired thermal power plants here is around 38 percent, while the share of coal-fired thermal power plants is around 28 percent. We need to work on different technologies to overcome the recent natural gas shortages in our country."
After Murat Makaracı's speech, Halil Alış, General Manager of EÜAŞ, took the floor. Halil Alış said that especially in the European side of Istanbul, there will be problems in the future regarding the security of electricity supply. Alış spoke as follows:
General Manager of Electricity Generation Co.
Halil Alış
"The reason for the shortage is that we no longer have a potential source in Istanbul. There was already no water source in Istanbul. The only source was natural gas. Here, we have Ambarlı natural gas. There are a few smaller power plants. Coal is only seen in Thrace. There are still doubts about whether it will be used for electricity. Because it is declared as agricultural land, zoning changes are required. We have about 500 million tons of coal reserves. We have the possibility to build a 1500-2000 megawatt power plant from it. However, it is not yet clear whether it will be built or not. The only way to bring electricity to Istanbul is to transport energy from Anatolia via transmission lines."
