Turkey's current deficit can be reduced by local coal usage, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the opening ceremony of Enerjisa's Tufanbeyli energy plant in the southern province of Adana on Sunday, according to Anadolu Agency.
Enerjisa, one of Turkey's largest energy companies, invested $1.1 billion into the plant, which boasts a 450-megawatt capacity, enough to provide power to 1.5 million households.
"I am personally against imported coal coming into this country," the president said. "We can lower current deficit by using more local coal."
Tufanbeyli energy plant is the largest local lignite plant constructed by Turkey's private sector. It will use 5.5 million tons of 100 percent local lignite coal annually to generate electricity.
Erdogan acknowledged that the quality of local coal might be lower than its imported counterpart but said it remained better to use the local variety rather than import it.
In the next 10 years, the country needs to invest $110 billion in energy to meet demand, Erdogan said.
"We target reducing foreign dependence and meeting our energy demand by using natural sources such as coal, water, solar and wind more efficiently," he added.
Last year, with low oil prices, Turkey's energy import bill totaled $38 billion.
Proven coal reserves total 15 billion tons in Turkey, of which 13.5 billion are lignite and 1.5 billion hard coal, said Mustafa Yilmaz, head of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority. Erdogan noted that local coal's share in electricity generation in Turkey was 13 percent.
Addressing environmental concerns of coal, Erdogan said that with new and environmentally friendly technology, the plant would operate under international standards.
With Europe's fourth and Turkey's biggest cooling tower, the plant's emission levels are kept below international standards as well, he added.
The country plans on increasing the share of local coal usage, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak said during his speech.
In order to display Turkey's coal potential more clearly, "we are working on a legal framework to increase exploration and drilling activities in the coal sector, improve working conditions and safety in mines and improve the investment environment so that coal can be utilized in the best way," he added.
The government will continue to support the private sector in local coal exploration and usage, Albayrak said.