By Anders Lorenzen

Even though Germany significantly ramped up its coal consumption in the wake of the decommissioning of its nuclear power plants, Turkey is on track to surpass Europe’s economic powerhouse as the continent’s biggest coal consumer.

Analysis from the green think tank, Ember shows high inflation rates are driven by the surge in coal-fired electricity as it is more financially viable than purchases of expensive natural gas.

In 2023, the Mediterranean country generated a record 117.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity produced from coal which resulted in a record 118 million tonnes of CO2 emissions as well as emissions of other greenhouse gasses (GHG.)

This is almost the same as Germany, the current largest coal-fired electricity generator in Europe which in 2023 generated 117.9 TWh and significantly more than the most coal-reliant country in Europe, Poland which generated 97 TWh. 

Inflation driving increased coal consumption

In the case of both Germany and Poland, they recorded steep annual coal consumption decreases in 2023 with further reduction pledges for 2024 alongside a rapid increase in renewables. This is largely due to the strict emissions standards in the European Union (EU) which both members are required to oblige to. No such thing for Turkey, which analysts suggest is another reason on top of the high inflation rates, which is one of the highest in the world that coal consumption is increasing in the country. 

The combined forces of the weakening Turkish currency and high-interest rates have made it much more expensive for the country to impart natural gas as well as LNG gas. As a result, Turkish coal-power plants increased their output by 3.5% during 2023 increasing coal’s share in the electricity system increased from 35.4% to 37%.

To make up for this Turkey’s import of Russian coal jumped 25% as Russia offered very cheap coal deals – keen to find new energy markets following sanctions boycotts of fossil fuel exports to EU member nations.

While the capital of Turkey, Istanbul is geographically located in Europe, the majority of the country is located in Asia and it is often a contentious issue whether the country should be defined as a European or Asian country,