Water-energy nexus of Turkey's municipalities: Evidence from spatial panel data analysis

Highlights: • The determinants of electricity consumption are estimated for Turkey. • We analyze the spatial effects of water abstraction on electricity consumption. • We use spatial panel data econometric models to control for spatial dependence. • Increase in urbanization and electricity prices drive less electricity consumption. • Joint management of water and electricity is needed to provide energy efficiency. The efficient use of water will make a notable contribution to ensure energy efficiency in Turkey to reach its National Energy Efficiency Action Plan goals. From the water for electricity perspective, this is the first study to investigate the effects of water consumption on electricity consumption in Turkey's provinces over the period 2008–2018. We apply the Spatial Durbin and Spatial Autoregressive Models to address the spatial dependence and spillover effects among neighboring provinces. This study's core findings reveal that: (1) A 1% increase in water consumption raises electricity consumption by more than 0.10% on average, which puts pressure on electricity consumption. (2) Water consumption has positive spatial effects. (3) Electricity prices are negatively related to electricity consumption. (4) Urbanization has a reducing effect on electricity consumption supports energy efficiency. Overall, this paper fills the water-energy nexus gap in Turkey. This study's results can provide decision-makers a different perspective on the importance of efficient water use in improving energy efficiency.