Turkey is among the fastest-growing countries in terms of geothermal energy as its capacity to produce electricity from geothermal resources has reached 1650 megawatts as of last year, Geothermal Energy Association (JED) head, Ali K?ndap said Monday.

K?ndap was speaking during a field visit organized by the association to showcase the sectoral activities in place.

As part of the program, sectoral representatives and the members of the Turkish Parliament’s Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources and Information and Technology Commission visited Turkey’s first private sector geothermal power plant (GPP), the Dora-1 plant as well as the Sultan Sera Inc. facilities.

Located in the Germencik district of the western Ayd?n province, the Dora-1 power plant has an 8.5-megawatt capacity and was commissioned by MB Holding in 2006.

The delegation also visited the Greeneco GPP-6, which is located in the Sarayköy district of western Denizli province, with 26 megawatts of installed power capacity. The plant was established with a domestic contribution of around 65%.

K?ndap highlighted that Turkey should take better advantage of its potential as its capacity is estimated to be around 3,500 megawatts.

Noting that Turkey ranks fourth in terms of electricity production capacity from geothermal resources, K?ndap explained that geothermal energy has many uses, from heating and cooling, to applications in tourism, health facilities, greenhouses, fish farming and mining, with heating being the predominant use.

He added that geothermal energy is used in heating and cooling in 78 countries while 24 countries aim to produce electricity from the resource.

The total installed capacity of geothermal energy has reached 15,950 megawatts globally, and is set to reach 20,000 megawatts in 2025, K?ndap said, adding: “Turkey’s electric production capacity from geothermal plants has jumped 100-fold in last 10 years to reach 1650 megawatts thanks to private sector investments and the government policies. It has become one of the fastest-growing countries among the world in the field.”

He stressed that geothermal energy is an important alternative as Turkey works to decrease its dependency on energy imports.

K?ndap further stressed that geothermal energy allows uninterrupted energy production when compared to other renewable sources, noting that the production rate from a geothermal source is around 95% and over.

Geothermal plants do not cause waste and thus they do not require industrial waste management, he added.