Glaring emission: Coal use grows with higher energy needs in Turkey
AMASRA — In 2024, Turkey became Europe’s top polluter in terms of energy production from fossil fuels.
The shift came as industrial centers in Germany and Poland moved away from coal-fired electricity while Turkey faced rising energy demands, part of which it met with the least efficient and most polluting type of coal: lignite.
Also known as brown coal, lignite is abundant throughout Turkey, especially along its northwestern Black Sea coast. This includes the Amasra district in Bartın province, where coal production has long been a source of both employment and communal tensions as environmental groups work to curb fossil fuel emissions.
"There are no jobs in this region. It's a tiny place … That's why we have to work here. We know the harms of coal-fired power plants, but we don't want to be unemployed either,” a coal miner in Amasra told Turkey recap, requesting anonymity to avoid reprisal from his employer, Hattat Holding.
Turkey’s growing coal use is the result of many intersecting trends which often pit coal workers seeking jobs against community activists seeking cleaner air and environmental protections.
At the same time, the nation’s growing industrial base has raised demands for cheap energy, like lignite, which conflicts with Turkey’s obligations as a Paris Agreement signatory, further fueling social movements against new coal projects.
Hattat Holding
In 2013, Turkish conglomerate Hattat Holding signed a $2.4 billion agreement with China’s Harbin Electric International to build a 2,640 MW power plant in Amasra.
The project planned to use hard coal – which is slightly more efficient and less polluting than lignite – but the power plant construction was rejected in a 2024 court decision following years of protests by local residents. Other coal power plant projects in the province have also been halted by court decisions.
Throughout, Hattat Holding has continued to pursue new energy projects as the company operates local coal mines. Hattat employees said they earn salaries of up to 40,000 liras a month – above Turkey’s current minimum wage of 26,005.
Though according to the Hattat employee quoted above, the company has been attempting to sway public opinion by promising higher wages if it can resume plans to build the new coal-fired power plant.
“As workers, we want the transition to a [new] power plant so that our wages increase,” the Hattat employee said, adding most company workers vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which they believe is more likely to green light the power plant.
With economic, political and environmental interests at play, coal production can be a highly contentious topic, even at family dinner tables, the Hattat employee told Turkey recap.
“In the same family, workers and relatives that are part of an environmental movement have come to a point of fighting with each other,” Hattat employee said.
Hattat Holding representatives did not respond to requests for comment for this report.
Politics at play
Ahmet Öztürk, a member of the Bartın Environmental Platform, said Hattat has close ties to the AKP and has often made promises of employment opportunities for the local community. Some newspapers also publish articles linking power plant openings to job creation.
“This offer seems attractive to people who are without prospects and unemployed,” Öztürk told Turkey recap. “However, the environmental platform has repeatedly underlined the damage that a coal-fired power plant would cause to the environment here.”
“Despite this, Hattat is not giving up on the project,” he added, referring to the stalled power plant project. “They continue to make new investments … but if this project is realized, Amasra as we know it will no longer exist.”
Öztürk went on to say Amasra is valued for its natural beauty, lush forests and undeveloped coastline. He said placing a coal power plant in the district would “massacre nature”.
Along these lines, he continues to campaign with the Bartın Environmental Platform to stop the construction of new coal-fired power plants. The platform also supports the gradual phase out of coal use for energy production.
Several other environmental movements have taken shape in various regions in Turkey, including in Muğla’s Akbelen forest, Rize’s İkizdere district and the northwestern Kaz Mountains.
Coal use and production
In an energy report published by the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), author and economist Bengisu Özenç's states that while many OECD and EU countries maintain their targets in reducing coal consumption, Turkey has yet to announce a timeline for its transition away from coal.
“Since 2019, no OECD country except Turkey has built a new coal plant,” Özenç writes. “Turkey distinguishes itself from all OECD countries with the Hunutlu power plant, which was commissioned after ratifying the Paris Agreement in 2021 and was built with Chinese financing.”
According to the data from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, 35 percent of Turkey’s electricity came from coal-fired power plants in 2024.
The same year, Ember data indicates Turkey's emissions from fossil fuel-based energy production increased by 7.5 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. In contrast, fossil fuel energy emissions in 2024 decreased by 9 percent in Germany, 12 percent in Italy, and 13 percent in the United Kingdom.
Additionally, 2024 was the third consecutive year of increased coal-powered energy production in Turkey, the highest level of coal-based electricity production in the country's history, according to Ember data.
This comes as lignite remains a crucial part of Turkey’s energy portfolio. In 2023, total coal consumption in Turkey was 100.3 million tons, according to data from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
Of this amount, 56.6 million tons were lignite and asphaltite and 38.9 million tons were hard coal. In total, 81.3 percent of lignite and asphaltite went to power plants for energy production.
Looking ahead, Turkey’s National Energy Plan indicates the nation seeks to build a total of 3.2 GW of new coal-fired power plants by 2035.
The Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources as well as the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change did not respond to questions regarding Turkey’s climate policy for this report.
Why is coal use growing in Turkey?
Turkey is estimated to have 5.7 billion tons of lignite reserves. Coal, especially domestic lignite, is a relatively low-cost energy source.
Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine caused fluctuations in imported natural gas prices, which increased the use of domestic resources.
Hydroelectric power production can also fluctuate due to droughts, raising demand for new coal-fired power plants, which in turn, increase coal use.
Existing infrastructure and demand for coal-fired energy has prompted a rise in coal imports to Turkey.
According to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) data, there are 51 coal-fired power plants operating in Turkey. Of these plants, 13 use imported coal, 33 use lignite, four use domestic hard coal, and one uses asphaltite coal.
Commenting on coal consumption, Özgür Gürbüz, co-founder and campaign director for the Ekosfer Association, said Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government has advocated for greater domestic coal use. At the same time, he said measures and regulations to reduce fossil fuel emissions, such as smokestack filters or scrubbers, have not been evenly applied.
“Increasing coal use means disregarding air pollution, ignoring environmental pollution and acting as if the climate crisis doesn't exist,” Gürbüz told Turkey recap. “The current government did this. These policies invited dirty technology.”
“Today, there are 25 units operating without [smokestack] filters in power plants in Turkey,” he added.
Reflecting on the growing use of imported coal, specifically, Gürbüz said the trend is both unprecedented and a cause for further concern.
"There are no longer attempts to build coal plants in Europe [while] the plan to use and open new ones in Turkey has created a market for this old system. That is, for this dirty old garbage technology to be sold in Turkey,” Gürbüz said.
"Turkey is a country that rejects energy transformation," he continued. "As long as Turkey delays energy transformation, it harms the environment, harms people and other living beings, and it continues to fuel climate change."
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