The share of geothermal power in Turkey’s total electricity generation has steadily increased in the first seven months of this year to 3.1% with a capacity addition of 37 megawatts, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday.

Located on an active tectonic belt, Turkey has enormous geothermal potential, accounting for 11.5% of global geothermal capacity.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) data, Turkey ranked fourth in the world and first in Europe with its geothermal energy capacity of 1,613 megawatts as of the end of 2020.

The country’s installed geothermal electricity capacity increased to 1,650 megawatts at the end of July, with the number of geothermal power plants reaching 63.

Geothermal energy constituted 1.65% of the total installed electricity capacity, which stood at 98,263 megawatts at the end of July.

Of the total 188.8 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity generated during the January-July period, geothermal power plants accounted for 3.1% or 5.9 billion kWh.

Geothermal power has an important role to play in reducing the country’s natural gas imports and its overall energy import bill.

Geothermal electricity prevented imports of 1.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas during this period, resulting in savings of over $200 million (TL1.68 billion).

Turkey’s geothermal energy installed power capacity is mainly sourced in the Aegean region of the country, with Aydın province leading with 850.4 megawatts of capacity.

Denizli province follows with 353.8 megawatts, Manisa with 349.2 megawatts, then Çanakkale with 28 megawatts and Afyonkarahisar with 3 megawatts.

Electricity generation from geothermal in Turkey first started in 1975 through public investments. The first power plant built by the private sector was commissioned in 2006.