ABSTRACT
Turkey, located on a tectonically and magmatically active part of the Alpine-Himalayan belt, is characterized by widespread geothermal activity, evident by numerous geothermal areas scattered throughout the country (Mutlu and Güleç, 1998). Geothermal exploration studies in Turkey were started in 1962 by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA). By the end of 2010, a total of 498 wells with a total depth of 242,500 m had been drilled with 3881 MWt (megawatt thermal) heat energy extracted from these wells. The present geothermal power generation capacity in Turkey is about 162 MWe (megawatt electrical: electric power) while that of direct use installations is around 795 MWt (Serpen et al., 2010). MTA’s projection for 2015 is to increase the installed capacity to about 600 MWe.
