Hydropower is the most important domestic energy source of Turkey. Thus, wise planning and development of the unused hydropower potential of the country is vital. There are many hydroelectric power plants under planning stage in our country. Altiparmak HEPP is one of them. General Directorate of Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIE) and ANC Enerji conducted two separate feasibility studies for Altiparmak HEPP in 2001 and 2009, respectively. Traditionally, the energy income calculations for HEPPs are based on DSI or EIE Methods in Turkey. Both of these methods evaluate the firm and the secondary energy generations separately. Besides they use fixed prices for these two types of energies. However, hourly electricity prices are used for electricity trading in Turkey. A detailed economic analysis of Altiparmak HEPP is conducted in this study. The economic analysis included various factors, such as tailwater level change, varying operating levels for different seasons and precipitation and evaporation amounts which are not conventionally included in feasibility studies. Moreover, the energy income calculations are conducted with four different methods, the DSI Method, the EIE Method, the ANC Method and the Variable Price Method (VPM). The VPM is developed in this study and it allows utilization of hourly electricity prices in calculating energy income of the HEPP. To shed some light on how hourly electricity prices develop, this thesis includes a chapter on the electricity market which explains the details of electricity trading in our country after the Electricity Market Balancing and Settlement Regulation became active in 2009.

Conserving energy and reducing electricity consumption have become critical issues. Measuring when different appliances use electricity can be an effective way to save money on electricity bills. By providing information about hourly electricity prices and peak consumption times, people can subconsciously adopt energy saving habits to reduce the electricity consumption in their households. The challenge, however, lies in ensuring that all household members are informed and made aware of the right times to use electricity. This study will research how nudging can be utilized to reduce electricity consumption in households and what information the people in the households need to be able to make informed decisions to reduce their electricity consumption.