Seminar on "Geothermal Energy" Held at PAU
Msc Geology Engineer and Medithermal Energy Manager Umut Barış Ülgen and Zorlu Energy Business Development Manager Reyhan Nergis Öner were hosted at the seminar themed "Geothermal Energy", which was held within the scope of "30 Years 30 Theme Events" on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of PAU.
Medithermal Energy Manager Umut Barış Ülgen made the first presentation of the seminar held in the conference hall of PAU Engineering Faculty with his presentation titled “Turkey's Current Geothermal Energy Potential and Different Engineering Branches Working Areas in the Sector”. Umut Barış Ülgen, who is also a European Union expert engineer; gave information about how geothermal energy is obtained, used and the situation of Turkey's geothermal resources in our country. Expressing that Denizli has an important contribution to Turkey in the production of geothermal energy, Ülgen talked about the usage areas of geothermal energy.
“Turkey ranks 1st in Europe in Geothermal Electricity Production and 4th in the World”
Ülgen emphasized that geothermal energy is used in electricity production, geothermal district heating, geothermal greenhouse cultivation, geothermal-health tourism. Underlining that the Aegean Region is an important geothermal power plant region for Turkey, Ülgen stated that Turkey ranks first in Europe and fourth in the world in geothermal electricity generation.
“Geothermal Energy Sector is Formed by the Collaboration of Dozens of Different Engineering”
Stating that the geothermal energy drilling process has to continue for 24 hours and can last between 60-90 days, Ülgen stated that the geothermal power plant can produce energy 24 hours a day and works for 8 thousand 500 hours a year. Stating that 55 percent of geothermal areas in Turkey are suitable for heating applications and that geothermal energy is used in electricity production if the water temperature is above 100 degrees, Ülgen emphasized that the Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war led to an increase in the importance of geothermal energy use. While concluding his presentation, Ülgen stated that Turkey's geothermal energy production capacity is increasing with the developing technology every day. Finally, Ülgen said, “The activities of the geothermal sector are engineering projects and can be established with the joint work of dozens of different sectors and different engineering.”
The second presentation of the seminar was made by Zorlu Energy Business Development Manager Reyhan Nergis Öner. Öner made a presentation titled “Business Development Process and Feasibility of Geothermal Energy”; she talked about renewable energy and geothermal energy potential in Turkey, business development processes, economic feasibility, geothermal and sustainability issues. Öner explained in detail to engineering students that geothermal energy is a renewable, environmentally friendly, sustainable, inexpensive, and domestic national energy source. "The biggest feature of geothermal energy that distinguishes it from other types of renewable energy is that it can produce electricity 90 percent of the year,"
Öner also shared her knowledge on Turkey's geothermal application map; “There are geothermal resources in each region of our country, but of course at different temperatures. Since these temperatures in the Aegean Region are more suitable for electricity generation, geothermal energy power generation plants in Denizli, Manisa and Aydın are more concentrated.” She also emphasized the importance of Denizli in this sector. Referring to geothermal energy business development processes, which is her area of expertise, Öner advised young engineer candidates by saying, “You start to decide on an investment with business development, and completing that investment is with business development.” Lastly, Öner also mentioned that Kızıldere Geothermal Power Plant, which Zorlu Enerji has been operating since 2008, for which she served as the business development manager, started its operations in the Sarayköy district of Denizli province in 1984. She concluded her presentation by underlining that the 80 MW Kızıldere-2 and 165 MW Kızıldere-3 plants commissioned by Zorlu Energy also contributed significantly to electricity generation in the renewable field. Following the presentations, the seminar ended with a question and answer session.
