Coal in Turkey

Coal supplies over a quarter of Turkey's primary energy. The heavily subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the country's electricity and emits a third of Turkey's greenhouse gases.

Coal is a major contributor to air pollution, and damages health across the nation, being burnt even in homes and cities. It is estimated that a phase out of coal power in Turkey by 2030 instead of by the 2050s would save over 100 thousand lives. Flue gas emission limits are in place, but data from mandatory reporting is not made public.

Most coal mined in Turkey is lignite (brown coal), which is more polluting than other types of coal. Turkey's energy policy encourages mining lignite for coal-fired power stations in order to reduce gas imports; and coal supplies over 40% of domestic energy production. Mining peaked in 2018, at over 100 million tonnes, declined considerably in 2019, but increased again in 2022. Most coal is imported, as in contrast to local lignite production, Turkey imports almost all of the bituminous coal it uses. Coal consumption probably peaked in 2022. The largest coalfield in Turkey is Elbistan.