The World Bank will co-host the second International Geothermal Congress (IGC) on May 22 to 24, 2017 in Izmir, Turkey, according to IGC Turkey's press release on Monday.
Other co-organizers include renewables consultancy, Enerchange, corporate consultancy ThinkGeoEnergy and its geothermal news platform, JeotermalHaberler.com.
'The Turkish geothermal energy market has seen an incredible growth over the past few years from 30 megawatts (MW) of installed power generation capacity in 2008 to 858 MW as of March this year.
Turkey continues to be one of the hottest geothermal markets globally with up to 1,000 MW of additional capacity either planned or under development, it added.
'Driven by increasing energy demand and favorable feed-in-tariffs, private developers have pushed the development of medium to large-sized geothermal power plants forward, predominantly in the Menderes Graben in the South-West of Turkey,' the statement underlined.
The inaugural IGC Turkey Geothermal Congress in Izmir last June attracted hundreds of visitors from the sector, according to the statement, adding that it successfully set the stage for a follow-up high-profile geothermal industry gathering in 2017, which will be sponsored by Anadolu Agency (AA).
The congress will be held in the heart of Turkey’s geothermal energy industry and the event will bring together representatives from developers, operators, suppliers, financiers, government bodies, and municipalities.
This year’s conference will start with a World Bank workshop on the first day, introducing World Bank programs for funding geothermal development in Turkey. The workshop will provide attendees with opportunities to learn about how the World Bank is supporting geothermal development including funding for risk mitigation and project finance.
Other topics will be exploration, drilling and production of geothermal energy. In different forums, the conference will focus on the economics and efficiency of geothermal power plants, financing and funding opportunities, prospects for the development of heat producing plants, cooling, and also discuss reservoir challenges, like scalings and CO2.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
ebrusengul@aa.com.tr