Spatial Analyses of Electricity Supply and Consumption in Turkey for Effective Energy Management and Policy-making - Implementing Environmental and Resource Management - page 153

14 Spatial Analyses of Electricity Supply and
Consumption in Turkey for Effective Energy
Management and Policy-making
Evren Deniz Yaylacı 1,3 , Abdurrahman Belel Ismaila 2 , Onur Uşkay 2 and Şebnem
Düzgün 3
1 KCM Project and Consulting Co. Ltd., Turkey
2 Department of Geodetic & Geographic Information Technologies, Middle East
Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
3 Department of Mining Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara,
Turkey
14.1 Introduction
Over the past decades, both public and private institutions have extensively ana-
lyzed energy supply and demand on national and international bases (WEC-TNC
2004; Munasinghe and Meier 1993). The main focus of these analyses has mainly
been the security of the energy supply and the determination of income and price
elasticity of energy consumption (Zachariadis and Pashourtidou 2006). In addi-
tion, concerns about climate change are considered as another motivation for these
analyses (Kuik 2003). This kind of information is useful for making inferences
about energy policy implications. Moreover, energy plays a vital role in the eco-
nomic, social and political development of any nation (Surrey 1996; Varian 2002;
ECN 2006). Therefore, no modern society can seriously address development is-
sues if the consideration is not based on a foundation of an adequate, sustainable,
and affordable energy supply (Akinbami and Lawal 2009).
An efficient, resilient energy infrastructure to reliably supply sufficient, afford-
able energy to meet increasing demand is crucial for achieving these goals. Like
other nations, Turkey faces an ever-increasing demand for electricity. Between
1980 and 2000, the average growth rate of total electricity consumption in Turkey
was 8.1% per annum, while the real GDP grew an average of 4.4% annually dur-
ing the same period. Electricity consumption per capita also steadily grew from
459 kWh in 1980 to 1457 kWh in 2000. This was still low compared to other
countries in the Organisation of Economic Developing Countries (OECD). Turkey
faced electricity shortages during the early 1980s and the 1990s, and the same pe-
riod was also marked by economic crises. Insufficient public funds and the poor
performance of state-owned electricity monopolies led to a reform in the electric-