The studies on energy demand forecasting in Turkey dates back to 1960s. The tradition of energy forecasting by using simple regression techniques was initiated by the State Planning Organization (SPO). Similar studies later have been continued by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey (MENR) and a number of academicians. These early forecasts consistently predicted much higher values than the consumptions that actually occurred. Later, starting from 1984, several econometric modeling techniques have been employed. Among them, the Model for Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED), which was used in energy planning and policy making by MENR, has been the most commonly applied one.
Ediger and Tatlıdil (2002) proposed a new technique of analyzing the cyclic patterns in the time-series data of annual additional amounts of energy consumption and compared the results with those of the Winters’ exponential smoothing method. The paper also includes a comprehen¬sive review and comparison of all previous energy demand forecasts done in Turkey.