The Impact Of Paris Agreement on Turkish Coal Power Project Developments

EuraCoal, a European mining industry lobby group, estimates that Turkey has around 1.3 billion tonnes of hard coal and 11.5 billion tonnes of lignite resources, of which 0.5 billion tonnes and 9.8 billion tonnes respectively are proven reserves. As worldwide populations and industrial growth reach new heights, electricity demand is projected to increase substantially. Fossil fuels, particularly coal, will continue to be a vital energy source for the power sector in many countries. At the same time, fossil fuel fired power generation is one of the largest sources of global CO2 emissions. High-efficiency, low-emissions coal technologies can help reduce the carbon emissions produced by coal-fired power generation while enabling the energy source to continue to meet growing power demand. Today, coal-fired power plants produce over 44 % of the world’s electricity. There has been, like in other countries globally, much talk of the impact of Paris Climate Agreement on the energy sector and especially on coal policies of Turkish Government. In this regards however, due and diligent attention has not been paid to the role and potential of coal as an energy source and planned or intended coal-fired power plant developments. The aim of this Paper, thus considering all above facts together in a comprehensive way, to shed light on Turkish Energy Policy with respect to Paris Agreement, and explore its potential efforts on planned Turkish Coal Power project developments.