Policies Required to minimize Turkey s Foreign-Dependency in Electrical Energy Production

Electrical energy requirements increase on daily bases with increasing world population and industrialization. Electrical energy has become an indispensable form of energy for our modern world. Therefore, all countries in the world strive to meet their own energy demands. Electrical energy is obtained from various sources today. Main source of electrical energy in the world is coal. Our country on the other hand uses natural gas as its primary electrical energy source. Since natural gas is an imported resource, it causes our country to be dependent on foreign sources. Turkey produces 58% of its energy from resources that are foreign-dependent. To minimize our foreign-dependency in electrical energy, the usage our own resources must be emphasized. This study aims to prepare short and long term plans to minimize our foreign-dependency in electrical energy in light of electrical energy production statistics. Short term plans mention here include the requirements of more coal, nuclear and hydroelectric plants; long term plans mention the need to emphasize renewable energy sources. Moreover, urgent policies that are required to mitigate the circumstances have been discussed, and recommendations have been made.