Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) offers an efficient method to support the heat for industrial processes by producing electricity and useful thermal energy from a common energy source. The objective of this paper is to investigate the development of CHP systems in Turkey. For the last few years cogeneration has played a significant part in Turkish energy strategy, with plans to satisfy the considerable portion of Turkey's requirements for electricity from cogeneration. Up until 1994, only four cogeneration plants were operating, representing a total capacity of 30 MWe. As of March 2000, 80 autoproduction (the production of electricity by industrial facilities for their own use in Turkey based on the Turkish Trade Law is called autoproduction) facilities with a total capacity of 2,079 MW were placed in operation. The annual energy produced was 10,848 GWh in 1999, constituting 9.3% of the annual GWh produced in Turkey. The total capacity of autoproducers is expected to grow by 281% by 2005, representing 20% of the total capacity of Turkey.