Ministry of Energy/Demircan: Hydroelectric Power Plants Will Bring Greater Contributions to the Resilience of the Communication Network

At the opening of the second day of the "Turkey Dams and Hydroelectric Power Plants Summit," organized by the Hydroelectric Power Plants Industrialists Association (HESİAD), Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Dr. Zafer Demircan stated, “We believe that hydraulic plants, which have shown a significant function in the system with their production capacity, will provide much greater contributions to increasing the flexibility coefficient of the transmission network in the upcoming period.” Highlighting that the private sector has written a “silent success story” in the energy sector over the last 20 years, Demircan noted, “Our hydraulic facilities will still be our most important tools in ensuring the quality of the transmission network.” Additionally, General Director of State Hydraulic Works Cengiz Han Kılıçarslan emphasized that Turkish dams are suitable for a floating solar energy capacity of 53,000 MW.

The second day of the summit, organized by HESİAD in Ankara, began with opening speeches by Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Dr. Zafer Demircan, Deputy General Director of State Hydraulic Works Cengiz Han Kılıçarslan, and HESİAD President Elvan Tuğsuz Güven.

"It is a period when everyone needs to break their routines" Deputy Minister Dr. Zafer Demircan remarked, “Certainly, the value of production and production capacity in hydroelectric plants will continue. However, in addition to the existence of production in the system, managing this production with the flexibility coefficient in the grid and delivering the electricity produced to consumers in the required quality are our most important tools, which will again be hydraulic facilities.” He added, “We need a transformation and new discourses in this new period. We expect hydroelectric plants to prepare themselves correctly for this new era.” He stated that the Turkish energy sector has written a significant and silent success story over the past 20 years with the participation and support of the private sector. “Our total installed capacity, which was 32,000 MW in 2012, is now at the level of 114,000 MW, with 80% of this accomplished by the private sector. By 2035, we expect our installed capacity to approach 220,000 MW, with 120,000 MW coming from renewable resources, which we will achieve with the interest of the private sector. In this context, we need a transformation and new discourses in the new period, one of the most important elements of this transformation being the improvement of the transmission network. So far, our hydraulic resources have primarily operated as base load plants, making it much easier and more efficient for the transmission network operator to manage the grid. However, in the coming years, as more intermittent resources come online, our hydroelectric plants will play a crucial role. We believe that hydraulic plants, which have thus far functioned significantly in supply security through their production capacity, will contribute even more to increasing the flexibility coefficient of the transmission network. The value of production and production capacity in hydroelectric plants will certainly continue, but again, our most important tools in ensuring the quality of the transmission network will be hydraulic facilities. We expect hydroelectric plants to prepare themselves correctly for this new period. Drought is a fundamental problem worldwide, and the State Hydraulic Works is making every preparation regarding this. We must ensure the preservation of water resources and maximize the benefits obtained from water, which is only possible with the sector achieving a good basin optimization and basin management culture. At the same time, digitalization is also crucial for the sector to synchronize both internally and with the system.”

Kılıçarslan: “Even if we use 10% of our floating solar energy potential, we can reach an installed capacity of 53,000 MW” Cengiz Han Kılıçarslan, the Deputy General Director of State Hydraulic Works, stated that they have stored 183 billion cubic meters of water in nearly 2,000 storage facilities and aim to add approximately 10 billion cubic meters of additional storage within five years. He further commented on the HES and DSI activities, stating, “Our dam-based hydroelectric power plants and storage facilities are very valuable. We conducted a study regarding floating solar energy. We implemented a 1 MW pilot application at Keban Dam, particularly focusing on closely examining environmental factors. Our goal was to ensure that the opposing views we encounter in hydro plants do not also arise in floating solar energy. Our country has a significant potential for floating solar energy. We have a surface area of 5,300 square kilometers in our storage. If we even use just 10% of this, we can reach an installed capacity of 53,000 MW. Our research indicates that we can produce about 10% more energy and prevent evaporation losses.”

Güven: “It is gratifying to see high awareness of the strategic importance of our sector” Elvan Tuğsuz Güven, President of HESİAD, referred to the topics discussed on the first day of the summit, stating, “All energy sector stakeholders have a high awareness of how strategically important the hydroelectric sector is for our country and want to support it. This is indeed a very encouraging data for the sector because hydroelectric plants not only serve as the dynamo for our country's development efforts during a specific period, but they also guarantee the energy supply security of our country with their existing leadership position among fully domestic and renewable resources. We are pleased to see that our regulatory bodies have a collaborative approach that will enable more projects from scratch, hybrid applications, pumped storage hydroelectric plants, or floating solar plants to be opened. It is a separate pleasure for us to hear that the primary expectation of financial institutions in financing hydroelectric plants is ‘having projects ready for credit issued to them.’ As a sector, I would like to emphasize that we will accelerate our preparations to fulfill our responsibilities in this regard.”