Greenpeace Says Türkiye’s Coal Bill Tops 592 Billion Lira Before COP31

Bosphorus News Energy Desk

Greenpeace Türkiye has put a new price tag on the country's coal dependence, estimating that the hidden annual cost of coal use exceeds 592 billion Turkish lira and reaches 21,529 lira per household.

The figure appears in Greenpeace Türkiye's May 2026 report, "Türkiye'de Kömürün Gizli Maliyeti," which calculates coal's social cost across three categories: public subsidies and support mechanisms, health and environmental damage, and the extra electricity cost created by using coal instead of cheaper wind and solar power.

The report estimates coal's annual hidden cost at 592.013 billion lira. Of that total, 133.729 billion lira comes from state subsidies and support, 398.167 billion lira from health and environmental costs, and 60.117 billion lira from the additional cost of coal-fired electricity compared with renewable alternatives.

Greenpeace Türkiye frames the findings as a direct economic warning ahead of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, which Türkiye is due to host in Antalya on November 9-20, 2026. The report argues that Türkiye will face sharper scrutiny if it continues to expand or protect coal-fired generation while chairing a summit expected to address the global transition away from fossil fuels.

Türkiye has 37 active coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 22 gigawatts, according to the report. Coal supplies 34 percent of the country's electricity. In 2025, coal-fired generation reached 121 terawatt hours, with 63 percent of that output coming from imported coal plants. The report puts the 2025 cost of imported coal at 2.8 billion dollars.

The report also points to Türkiye's 2023 National Energy Plan, which foresees coal-fired electricity capacity rising to 24.3 gigawatts by 2035. No new coal plant has been commissioned since 2022 and no new plant is currently under construction, but Greenpeace Türkiye says planned expansion at Afşin-Elbistan A would deepen the sector's health, environmental and economic burden.

The subsidy component is one of the report's strongest political findings. Greenpeace Türkiye says coal production and consumption receive an average of 511 million dollars a year in existing public support, based on 2018-2024 data. It also cites a 2025 price guarantee package for domestic coal plants, under which Türkiye would pay 75 dollars per megawatt hour for electricity from domestic coal plants until 2030.

The report says Ember estimates that package at 8.7 billion dollars over four years, rising to 9.8 billion dollars when support for plants using both domestic and imported coal is included.

The health section gives the report its heaviest public-interest weight. Citing Health and Environment Alliance analysis, Greenpeace Türkiye says coal pollution in Türkiye creates an annual health cost of 5.88 billion euros, equal to 27 percent of the country's annual health spending. It says coal plants operating in 2019 were linked to about 5,000 premature deaths, 26,500 bronchitis cases among children, 3,000 premature births and more than 1.4 million lost working days due to illness.

Environmental costs add another 1.653 billion euros a year, according to the report, which cites Shura analysis on the external cost of fossil fuel use. Combined health and environmental costs reach 398.167 billion lira, or 14,480 lira per household.

Greenpeace Türkiye says the overall estimate is a lower-bound calculation. The report excludes the wider costs of climate change, water depletion, agricultural damage and energy security risks. That caveat is important: the 592 billion lira figure is presented as a minimum estimate, rather than a full accounting of coal's total economic burden.

The report's renewable energy comparison sharpens the policy contrast. It says wind power installation costs have fallen 40 percent over the past decade, while solar installation costs have fallen 77 percent. Solar electricity generation costs have dropped 69 percent, reaching 43 dollars per megawatt hour in 2025, according to the report.

In a scenario where the 121 terawatt hours of electricity produced from coal in 2025 were replaced by wind and solar, Greenpeace Türkiye says households could save 2,186 lira a year on electricity costs. The report also notes that Türkiye has approved 33 gigawatts of battery storage projects, a level equivalent to 83 percent of its current wind and solar capacity.

The report does not treat coal exit as a narrow environmental demand. It also warns that any transition must protect workers and coal-dependent communities, citing recent labour disputes and uncertainty affecting miners and plant workers in Eskişehir, İzmir, Afşin-Elbistan and Soma.

Greenpeace Türkiye calls for a coal phase-out date, the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, stronger investment in wind, solar, energy efficiency, grid infrastructure and battery storage, and pricing mechanisms that reflect the health and environmental costs of fossil fuel use.

The political significance is clear before COP31. Türkiye's coal debate is no longer only about emissions targets or climate diplomacy. Greenpeace Türkiye's report places it inside the cost of living debate, the health budget and the credibility of an energy policy that still relies on public support for plants the report describes as expensive, polluting and increasingly exposed to cheaper alternatives.

***Source: Greenpeace Türkiye, "Türkiye'de Kömürün Gizli Maliyeti," May 2026.