Coal supplies a quarter of Turkey's primary energy, and the country is one of the largest consumers in the world. The subsidised coal industry generates a third of the country's electricity and emits over a quarter 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. Most coal is burnt in power stations, and 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.
Over 90% of 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. Coal burning peaked in 2018, and mining in 2022 at about 100 million tonnes. Most coal is imported, as in contrast to local lignite production, Turkey imports most of its bituminous coal from Russia. The largest coalfield in Turkey is Elbistan. Turkey will host the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in which getting agreement on coal phase-out will be very important.
History
Mining and industry As the Ottoman Navy expanded its steam powered fleet in the 1840s to help defend the Ottoman Empire against the expanding Russian Empire, it became a national priority to find domestic coalfields. There are several apocryphal stories about the discovery of coal on the Black Sea coast in what is now Zonguldak Province. However, it is certain that the Ereğli Coal Mine Company started production in 1842 and that coal mined in Ereğli and Amasra was used to fuel steamboats.
In 1848 the Ereğli Coal Basin (now called the Zonguldak Basin) was mapped and claimed by Sultan Abdulmejid I, who later leased it, mainly to foreign merchants. The first customer of Turkey's coal industry was the Ottoman Navy. However, during the Crimean War in the mid-1850s, production was commandeered by the Ottoman Empire's allies, the British Royal Navy, and production increased by importing mining machinery and training Turkish miners. By 1875 the Ottoman Navy had become the third largest in the world and expansion of the mines attracted workers from outside the area, despite the dangerous conditions.
The mines in Zonguldak were shelled by Russia during World War I (WW1) to disrupt coal supply to Ottoman and German ships. The first coal-fired power station in Turkey, Silahtarağa Power Station (now SantralIstanbul culture center) opened in 1914, and after the destruction of the empire in WW1, and the subsequent Turkish War of Independence, the new Republic of Turkey industrialized further as part of Atatürk's reforms. Işıkveren in Zonguldak in 1948 was the second coal power station. Lignite from Soma supplied the army in WW1 and lignite mining began at several other coalfields in 1927. The Zonguldak coalfield remains the only national source of the hard coal which was historically necessary for steelmaking: its mines were nationalized in 1940. In the mid-20th century the state encouraged the growth of cement and steelmaking in Zonguldak. The first large coal-fired power stations were built in the late 1950s in two large lignite basins, Soma and Tuncbilek, and in the late 20th century many power stations were constructed near lignite fields such as Elbistan coalfield. There were miner’s strikes in Zonguldak in 1965 and 1990.
In the early 21st century there was a growing realization of the damage done by coal to public health. However, the Turkish government wished to avoid importing too much natural gas, which is a large part of the import bill, with supply dominated by Russia. The nascent environmental movement in Turkey was unable to prevent many more coal-fired power stations being built, but did stop some. After years of struggle by environmentalists standards, such as for flue-gas desulfurization, were finally improved at the end of the 2010s. As for steelmaking, most plants are now electric arc furnaces.
Residential heating and cooking Starting in the 19th century, stoves took the place of wood burning ovens in traditional Anatolian houses. For heating, every room had a stove with a stovepipe or chimney. After the late 1970s, coke was reserved for use in institutions such as schools, and the more polluting but cheaper coal was supplied to households. Imports of natural gas started in the late 1980s and by the 2020s the pipeline distribution network had been extended to over 80% of the population. However, due to energy poverty, some of those people still use coal and the resulting air pollution causes illness and premature deaths. Most buildings constructed since the late 20th century have gas heating, not coal.
In the 2020s, in some provinces coal is still used for heating including public buildings, especially in rural areas, and even occasionally for cooking, although electricity and bottled gas are available everywhere. In 2019 TKI gave one and a half million tonnes of free coal (mostly from Alpagut Dodurga coal mine) to households with an average per person income less than one third of the minimum wage (less than 700 lira in 2020), even in neighborhoods which have piped gas. In winter 22/23 TKI distributed coal to schools and other educational institutions: this coal has to meet certain indoor heating air pollution limits. Indoor concentration of particulates is highest in the winter. Over three quarters of carbon monoxide deaths are due to stoves: almost 200 in 2017 mostly in poorer rural areas.
Coalfields and mines
Turkey was 11th in the list of countries by coal production, and mined 1.3% of the world's coal, with lignite and sub-bituminous deposits widespread throughout the country. Due to the country's geology, there is no hard coal, which has a higher energy density (over 7,250 kcal/kg), within 1000 m of the surface. All coal deposits are owned by the state but over half of mining is done by the private sector. In 2017 almost half of Turkey's coal production was mined by the state-owned mines, but the government is seeking an expansion of privatization. As of 2019, there are 436 coal mining companies such as Akçelik, 740 coal mines, and more mining and exploration licences are being tendered. However, some drilling companies are not bidding for licences because mineral exploration is more profitable and in 2018 many mining licences were combined with coal licenses. Mining is documented in the "e-maden" computer system ("maden" means "mine" in Turkish). Coal miners do not have the right to strike. A company called Tarhan Maden has proposed a mine in the district of Tavşanlı in Kütahya Province. Unions have complained of mines they say are unsafe, such as Kınık coal mine. In July 2025 the government proposed that mining companies would not have to wait for EIA approval from the ministry.
Hard coal The Zonguldak basin in the northwest is the only coal mining region in Turkey that produces hard coal: about 2 million tons a year from mines including Kandilli, Amasra, Karadon, Kozlu and Üzülmez. Compared to other countries, the energy value of the coal is low, at to . Up to 72.5% is organic carbon. 10 to 15% is coal ash, 4 to 14% moisture, and 0.8 to 1% sulfur. Although low grade it is generally of cokeable or semi-cokeable quality. Because there is so much faulting and folding, mining in the region is very difficult. Long-wall mining is necessary due to the tectonic structure of the seams.
Lignite Turkey is one of the countries which mines the most lignite. The most significant deposits of lignite were laid down in the geological Neogene period. Almost half of the country's lignite reserves are in the Afşin–Elbistan basin. Lignite coalfields include Elbistan, Kutahya Tavsanlı, Inez, Manisa, İnağzı-Bağlık and Gediz, and 90% of lignite production is from surface mines. Locations of major individual lignite mines include Tunçbilek in Tavşanlı, Yatağan near the southern Aegean Sea, Yeniköy in Muğla and Seyitömer in Kütahya; and there is a gilsonite mine in Silopi. Turkish lignite has high carbon, sulphur, ash, moisture and volatile components. Its calorific value is less than 12.5 MJ/kg – and that from Afsin Elbistan has less than 5 MJ/kg, which is a quarter of typical thermal coal. Opencast mining of lignite can destroy forest land, as although soil must be stored by law, it can degrade before reforestation. In 2023 a proposed rule allowing removal of olive trees was retracted.
Mining technology Exploration and research is done by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration. In the 2010s coal mining technology from China was imported. But according to energy analyst Haluk Direskeneli coal power plant technology which has been imported is unsuitable for Turkish coal, so refractory distortions are occurring, and control systems and other equipment is failing. He says that circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology is unsuitable because Turkish lignite does not burn continuously in the CFB combustion chamber without supplementary liquid fuel. In Direskeneli's opinion "local coal enters the combustion chamber as ice in winter and as mud in summer", so the water content of domestic coal should be reduced by preheating.
, environmental regulations for coal mines still lag behind international standards despite improvements. an expansion of coal washing capacity was planned together with research on coal pollution mitigation and lignite gasification. According to the Eleventh Development Plan (2019-2023): "In order to reduce the import dependence and current accounts deficit in energy, exploration, generation and R & D activities will be increased for high potential domestic resources such as geothermal and shale gas, especially lignite."
Health and safety
The Istanbul Policy Center estimates that every year in Turkey, the mining and burning of coal causes at least 2,800 premature deaths, 637,000 working days to be lost, and 3.6 billion euros in additional costs. Although there are some concerns about ground and water pollution, most coal-related deaths are caused by worsening air pollution in Turkey.
Workers' health and safety
Accidents which killed over 100 people include that at Armutçuk coal mine in the 1980s. After the deaths of over 300 people in the Soma mine disaster in 2014, new health and safety regulations were introduced. , most mining accidents happen in coal mines but the reasons for Turkey's poor mining safety are not entirely clear. According to a 2022 study the small number of workers in trade unions and the widespread use of subcontractors contribute to poor working conditions.
Most underground coal-mining deaths are caused by methane explosions and other gas-related accidents, as is suspected was the cause of the Bartın mine explosion which killed 41 people in 2022. The government has restricted access to workplace accident statistics, but coal mining is thought to be the most accident-prone sector of the economy. coal mining fatalities continue to occur in illegal mines. Coal miners suffer respiratory diseases such as black lung, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, back pain, periodontal disease and other illnesses; and increased risk from respiratory infections such as COVID-19.
According to Bianet newspaper some workers have been dismissed for joining the Independent Mine Workers' Union (Bağımsız Maden İş).
Air pollution