Aydın geothermal plants and fig orchards (Sarı Zeybek, Çamköy, Germencik)
- In 2025 the Minister of Environment reported that the discharge of a geothermal plant was non-standard. Evrensel
- Company or project President of the Geothermal Energy Association (2021): Reinjection is carried out and water is not released to nature; reactions stopped the investment.
- Government and regulators Minister of Environment (2025): The discharge of a geothermal plant was non-standard; an administrative and judicial process began. Evrensel
- Researchers Literature and a 2015 doctoral thesis, as reported in the sources reviewed: The literature treats reinjection as a remedy; the thesis found higher heavy-metal levels in fig orchards 600–650 m from a plant.
- Courts Aydın 1st Administrative Court: Annulled the positive ÇED decision for the Sarı Zeybek plant for the second time (2022). bianet
- Courts Aydın 2nd Administrative Court: Unanimously annulled the ÇED-not-required decision for drilling at Çamköy, citing a fig orchard and first-class land, proximity to an olive grove, cumulative effects and an error of about 3 km in the coordinates. Evrensel
- Communities and civil society Kızılcaköy: Won the Sarı Zeybek case at the Aydın 1st Administrative Court. bianet
- Communities and civil society Agricultural chamber (plaintiff at Çamköy): Won the Çamköy case at the Aydın 2nd Administrative Court. Evrensel
- Company or project Plant owners: No response to the rulings is recorded in the sources reviewed.
In Aydın, Turkey's main fig-growing province, courts annulled environmental decisions for geothermal wells planned in fig orchards, and a minister reported a non-standard discharge from a geothermal plant. Plant owners are paid under a purchase guarantee set in Law 5346.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry fig market report, July 2025, as reported in the sources reviewed.
Status As of October 2026: two ÇED annulments by Aydın administrative courts; discharge process opened in 2025; no independent monitoring found.
- Geothermal plant owners, for example Margün — Paid under a 15-year purchase guarantee and a land-fee discount; Margün forecast about USD 172.8 million of EBITDA over 15 years. KAP (Public Disclosure Platform)
- Project owners, intermediaries and offset buyers in the voluntary carbon market — Turkey sold about 35 million tCO2e in 2007–2015; a Menderes geothermal project forecast about 43,000 credits a year, and South Pole wrote that another plant became economic with carbon-credit sales.
- Fig growers near plants — A 2015 thesis recorded higher heavy-metal levels in orchards 600–650 m from a plant.
- Fig orchards in Aydın — Heavy-metal levels in orchards near a plant; a non-standard discharge was reported in 2025; the size of the effect is not available. Evrensel
What happened
In 2023 Turkey ranked first in the world for figs, at 356 thousand tonnes, and held 49% of the world's dried-fig share; 55.9% of Turkish production came from Aydın (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry fig market report, July 2025, as reported in the sources reviewed). In the 2025/26 season dried-fig exports were 55 thousand tonnes worth USD 343 million, a figure the sources reviewed identify as the exporters' association's own declaration.
Geothermal power in Turkey is paid under Law 5346, which gives plants a price guarantee and an 85% discount on land fees. In 2026 a KAP (public disclosure platform) notice recorded that Margün bought a 24 MW geothermal plant in Germencik for USD 105.5 million, with a 15-year purchase guarantee of about 12.50 cents per kWh for five years and 10.50 cents afterwards; the company forecast about USD 172.8 million of EBITDA over 15 years. Nationally the research file records 68 geothermal plants with 1,772–1,786 MW installed (two sources give different figures) and 11.66 TWh generated in 2025, 3.2% of the total; it did not find a current plant count for Aydın.
Two court rulings concern wells in fig-growing areas. The Aydın 1st Administrative Court annulled, for the second time in 2022, the positive environmental impact assessment (ÇED) decision for the 54 MW Sarı Zeybek plant; press reports and the plaintiff said all of its wells were in fig orchards. In a ruling dated 2026, the Aydın 2nd Administrative Court unanimously annulled a decision that no ÇED was needed for drilling at Çamköy, citing fig orchards and first-class land, proximity to an olive grove, cumulative effects, and an error of about 3 km in the coordinates. The same company was given a positive ÇED decision for three wells in another village.
On the environmental record, the Minister of Environment reported in 2025 that the discharge of a geothermal plant was non-standard and an administrative and judicial process began; after an explosion in November 2025 the provincial directorate said it did not know the quantity of fluid that flowed. A 2015 doctoral thesis found higher heavy-metal levels in fig orchards 600–650 m from a plant, with the effect on yield and quality declining with distance; the figures themselves were not available in the sources reviewed. A peer-reviewed record of boron pollution dates from 2002.
The industry's account, given by the president of the Geothermal Energy Association in 2021, was that reinjection is carried out, that water is not released to nature, and that reactions had stopped the investment. The research file notes that the literature also treats reinjection as a remedy, while recording the 2025 non-standard discharge.
- 2002Peer-reviewed record of boron pollution (location not stated)
- 2015Doctoral thesis: heavy metal higher in fig orchards 600–650 m from a plant
- 2021Geothermal Energy Association president: reinjection is used, water is not released to nature
- 2022Aydın 1st Administrative Court annuls the Sarı Zeybek ÇED decision for the second time
- 2025Minister of Environment reports non-standard discharge from a geothermal plant; November explosion, provincial directorate unable to say how much fluid flowed
- 2026Aydın 2nd Administrative Court annuls the Çamköy ÇED-not-required decision; Margün disclosure of the Germencik plant purchase
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Reinjection is carried out and water is not released to nature; reactions stopped the investment.
The discharge of a geothermal plant was non-standard; an administrative and judicial process began.
EvrenselThe literature treats reinjection as a remedy; the thesis found higher heavy-metal levels in fig orchards 600–650 m from a plant.
Annulled the positive ÇED decision for the Sarı Zeybek plant for the second time (2022).
bianetUnanimously annulled the ÇED-not-required decision for drilling at Çamköy, citing a fig orchard and first-class land, proximity to an olive grove, cumulative effects and an error of about 3 km in the coordinates.
EvrenselWon the Sarı Zeybek case at the Aydın 1st Administrative Court.
bianetWon the Çamköy case at the Aydın 2nd Administrative Court.
EvrenselNo response to the rulings is recorded in the sources reviewed.
How it looked
Shown
- Reinjection is carried out and water is not released to nature; reactions stopped the investment.President of the Geothermal Energy Association, 2021
Recorded
- Aydın 1st Administrative Court annulled the Sarı Zeybek ÇED decision for the second time (2022).
- Aydın 2nd Administrative Court unanimously annulled the Çamköy ÇED-not-required decision (2026).
- The Minister of Environment reported in 2025 that a geothermal plant's discharge was non-standard.
- A 2015 doctoral thesis recorded higher heavy-metal levels in fig orchards 600–650 m from a plant.
- A peer-reviewed article from 2002 records boron pollution (location not stated).
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- margun (2026): KAP notice on the Germencik plant purchase: 24 MW, 15-year purchase guarantee, forecast of about USD 172.8 million EBITDA over 15 years. · KAP (Public Disclosure Platform)
- geothermal-association-tr (2021): Its president said in 2021 that reinjection is carried out, water is not released to nature, and reactions stopped the investment.
- tr-environment-ministry (2025): The Minister reported in 2025 that a geothermal plant's discharge was non-standard; an administrative and judicial process began. · Evrensel
- tr-environment-ministry (2025-11): After the November 2025 explosion the provincial directorate said it did not know the quantity of fluid that flowed. · Evrensel
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2022Claimant wonSarı Zeybek geothermal plant (54 MW): ÇED decision annulledAydın 1st Administrative Court · Administrative · Kızılcaköy (as named in the report) → Not named
The court annulled the positive ÇED decision for the second time. Press reports and the plaintiff said all of the wells were in fig orchards. bianet
- 2026Claimant wonÇamköy drilling: ÇED-not-required decision annulledAydın 2nd Administrative Court · Administrative · Agricultural chamber (plaintiff) → Not named
The court unanimously annulled the decision that no ÇED was needed, citing a fig orchard and first-class land, proximity to an olive grove, cumulative effects and an error of about 3 km in the coordinates. The same company was given a positive ÇED decision for three wells in another village. Evrensel
- 2025–OngoingProcess following non-standard discharge from a geothermal plantAdministrative and judicial authorities · Regulatory · Authorities (per the Minister's statement) → A geothermal plant (not named)
The Minister of Environment reported in 2025 that a plant's discharge was non-standard and said an administrative and judicial process had been started. Evrensel
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
Accounts
- None on record Plant owners: No response to the rulings is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Record
- None on record The size of the heavy-metal effect on figs near plants is not available: the figures from the 2015 thesis were not seen.
- Insufficient A claim that cancer in Germencik is 4–5 times the Turkish average is reported but not verified: no underlying study is shown and no epidemiological record was found.
- Insufficient A claim of boron pollution at '150 times' a limit is reported but not verified: the data could not be opened.
- None on record After the November 2025 explosion, the provincial directorate said it did not know the quantity of fluid that flowed.
- None on record A current count of geothermal plants in Aydın was not found.
Did the harm stop?
Two ÇED decisions were annulled in court (2022 and 2026); a minister reported a non-standard discharge in 2025 and a process began. Plants continue to operate; the same company received a positive ÇED decision for three wells in another village.
Who paid?
The purchase guarantee and land-fee discount are written into Law 5346 in cents per kWh and percent; the research file records no corresponding line for the loss of figs.
Sources
Company or project
- Margün KAP notice on the Germencik geothermal plant purchaseKAP (Public Disclosure Platform) · 2026
Press and investigations
- 500 MW geothermal investment awaits startPara Dergi · 2026-05-04
- Turkish dried figs set out for export on 28 September (headline translated from Turkish)Ekonomi Gazetesi · 2026
- Evrensel report on the Çamköy geothermal drilling case (February 2026)Evrensel · 2026-02
- Evrensel report on geothermal plant discharge (2025)Evrensel · 2025
- Evrensel report on the Çamköy geothermal drilling case (September 2026)Evrensel · 2026-09
Researchers
Connected cases
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- Turkish environment ministry (Government) — here: Ministry and provincial directorate; there: EIA approvals and operating certificates