Share of renewables in Türkiye’s electricity capacity rises to 60%
Renewable energy capacity now makes up approximately 60% of Türkiye’s total installed electricity capacity, up from 57% during the same period last year, according to data from the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEIAŞ).
The total installed electricity capacity in Türkiye has reached 116,605 megawatts (MW) as of Feb. 23, according to the data sourced by Anadolu Agency (AA) from TEIAŞ, published on Tuesday.
Clean energy sources, which play a significant role in the country’s electricity generation portfolio, account for about 70,000 MW of the total capacity.
Increasing the share of renewable energy sources aligns with Türkiye’s goal of using domestic resources to combat climate change and reduce its current account deficit.
The country currently has 33,671 renewable energy plants across its seven regions.
Türkiye continues to accelerate investments in renewable sources, mainly wind and solar energy, to meet increasing energy demand driven by population growth, the needs of the industrial sector and to curb the current account deficit caused by fossil fuel imports.
Solar power plants on rise
Accordingly, the number of solar plants has surpassed 32,000, while the installed solar capacity topped 20,000 MW, the data revealed.
During this period, installed solar capacity has reached 20,416 MW, with 18,409 MW coming from unlicensed plants and 2,008 MW from licensed plants, the data shows.
Solar energy accounts for 17.5% of Türkiye’s total installed power and about 30% of renewable energy capacity.
The number of solar plants producing electricity has increased to 32,083, while installed wind capacity stands at 13,046 MW with 378 active plants.
According to the data, wind energy accounts for about 11% of the total electricity installed capacity, while its share in renewable energy stands at 18.7%.
Hydroelectricity stands as the top clean source
The largest capacity in renewable energy is in hydroelectric power plants, which make up close to half of the total installed capacity of renewables.
According to the data, hydroelectric capacity, consisting of river and dam-based plants, has reached 32,203 MW as of Feb. 23.
Hydroelectric energy makes up 27% of the total installed power and 46% of the total renewable energy installed capacity.
There are currently 617 river plants and 147 dam plants in the country.
According to TEIAŞ, other renewable energy sources include geothermal and biomass.
During this period, geothermal capacity has reached 1,734 MW, while biomass capacity was recorded at 2,123 MW.
The number of plants stands at 66 for geothermal and 380 for biomass.
