ANTALYA - "Hydroelectric energy projects are of vital importance and this should be acknowledged by everyone," Prof. Dogan Altinbilek, President Turkish Hydropower Association (IHA) said on Tuesday.
Taking the floor at the opening of World Congress on Advancing Sustainable Hydropower, Altinbilek said more than 350 guests from 42 countries have been attending the congress where water, energy and climate changes would be assessed.
Altinbilek indicated that the most important renewable energy resource is the hydroelectric energy, noting that, "private enterprises made serious efforts to operate our hydroelectric energy and the government supports this."
On the other hand Haydar Kocaker, the Acting DG of the Turkish State Hydraulic Works (DSI), stated that water was a natural but a limited resource. "Many countries would have problems about water supply because of global warming," he noted.
Kocaker indicated that Turkey was among the countries in the risky group.
On the other hand, Prof. Louis Berga, the Chairman of the International Commission on Large Dams, remarked that hydroelectric power plants have a significant role in dealing with greenhouse gases.
"We should save the developing countries from darkness by improving renewable energy," Berga said.