Thu, 28 October, 2021
GeoSmart partner METU (Middle East Technical University) recently held a fruitful online Eastern European calling interview session with geothermal stakeholders on 28 September 2021 in Turkey. Fifteen experts from different fields of the geothermal sector, e.g., academia, research centers, private sector, development banks, investors, consultancy firms, attended the calling Interview to share their expertise and experience.
The attendees were asked to share their opinions on the questions prepared by METU, reflecting the socio-economic and technical aspects of GeoSmart and will be used in one-to-one interviews with key geothermal actors in the future. The purpose of the organized calling interview is to identify and clarify the right questions during the individual interviews based on the feedback from these key experts.
The highlights of the discussed topics during the organized meeting are listed as:
- Lack of public awareness and acceptance despite Turkey’s breaking into Top 5 in terms of installed capacity (#4 in the world, #1 in EU)
- Underutilization of R&D opportunities considering installed state-of-the-art power plants, g., Turkey hosts 3 of the 5 triple-flash geothermal power plants in the world with minimal R&D effort in developing these technologies
- Requirement of collaboration between universities and university-industry cooperation
- Suggestions regarding the reservoir management and licensing
- Competition and state of geothermal to other renewables, e., wind and solar PV
- Current state and projections of geothermal electricity in Turkey’s energy mix
- Importance of inclusiveness and holistic approach in the utilization of geothermal energy to consider the greenhouses, district heating, and hybridization opportunities
METU will be performing one-to-one interviews with the mapped critical stakeholders in the Turkish geothermal sector in the upcoming months.
Article courtesy: METU