Turkey has achieved significant success in line with its energy independence and sustainability goals. Last year, 5 electricity generation plants with a total investment value of approximately $6 billion were put into operation across the country. While the total installed capacity of these plants was 182 megawatts, strikingly, 6 percent of this power was generated by plants that provide renewable energy sources. This historic development was made official with the 818 Renewable Energy Investments Mass Opening Ceremony held at the Beştepe Congress and Culture Center with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“Our goal is to be a net exporter in resources and technology”
Making important statements at the ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan drew attention to the momentum Türkiye has achieved in the field of energy and said, “Everyone is expressing that our country has gained a different momentum in the field of energy. As Turkey, we are virtually competing with ourselves in energy.” Emphasizing that energy supply security has now become a matter of survival, Erdoğan said, “Ensuring energy supply security has become a matter of survival for almost every state.” Stating that Türkiye does not see energy as an element of competition, but as a ground for cooperation and mutual gain, the President said that Türkiye has taken important steps in the field of energy with natural gas discoveries in the Black Sea and Gabar and projects such as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. Noting that Türkiye’s energy needs have tripled in the last 20 years and that electricity demand will increase by 2035 percent by 50, Erdoğan said, “Our goal is to reduce this import and reduce our energy bill, and ultimately to make Türkiye a net exporter of resources and technology.”
2035 Target: 120 Thousand Megawatts of Renewable Energy
Emphasizing that renewable energy plays a critical role in Türkiye reaching its 2053 net zero emission target, President Erdoğan stated that Türkiye ranks 5th in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of installed power. Stating that the installed power reached 2025 megawatts as of March 118 and that 185 percent of this consists of renewable resources, Erdoğan said, “We aim to increase our installed solar and wind power to 60 megawatts by 2035. We will make an investment of 120 billion dollars for this purpose. We are establishing the green transmission infrastructure. We aim to create 80 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035.”
Minister Bayraktar: Renewable Energy is the Cornerstone of Our System
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar drew attention to Türkiye’s great potential in renewable energy and said, “We have increased our wind and solar installed power from zero to over 23 thousand megawatts in the last 35 years. We have reached the point where we can meet the annual electricity needs of all households in our country with our wind and solar energy production.” Emphasizing that renewable energy is no longer an exceptional source of the system but one of its cornerstones, Minister Bayraktar said that the use of domestic equipment and technology has been made mandatory in investments made with the Renewable Energy Resource Areas (YEKA) model. Reminding President Erdoğan of the 2035 thousand megawatt wind and solar installed power target set for 120, Bayraktar stated that at least 2 thousand megawatt YEKA competitions will be organized every year to achieve this goal and that this capacity will be reached with industrialists, businesses, tourism facilities, solar, wind and rooftop GES applications with storage and offshore wind projects.
New YEKA Competitions on the Way
Minister Bayraktar announced that they aim to organize a new YEKA competition of 2 megawatts in total, consisting of solar projects in October and wind projects in November. Bayraktar emphasized the importance of a strong transmission and distribution infrastructure in order to manage this rapid increase in production in a healthy way, and emphasized that a balanced production portfolio is vital, citing the example of the major power outages experienced in Europe.
Mass Opening with Live Connection to Five Cities
Following the speeches, live connections were made to important energy investments in different regions of Türkiye. Following the ARB Wind Power Plant (WPP) in Bursa, the Yelen-Gülpınar WPP in Çanakkale, the NG Kütahya Solar Power Plant (SPP) in Kütahya, the Eksim WPP in Sakarya and the Yeşilyurt WPP in Şanlıurfa, the mass opening of all 2024 electricity generation plants completed in 6 was carried out by President Erdoğan.
98 Percent of Investments from Renewable Energy
With this mass opening ceremony, 2024 electricity generation plants commissioned in 81 provinces of Türkiye in 6 were officially put into service. While the total investment value of these plants reached approximately 182 billion dollars, a significant contribution of 5 megawatts was made to the country's total installed capacity. The most striking point is that 6 percent of the plants commissioned are based on renewable energy sources. This concretely demonstrates the great progress Türkiye has made in clean energy transformation.
$1,3 Billion Worth of Natural Gas Imports Prevented
The annual electricity production capacity of these huge investments is calculated as 23,8 terawatt-hours. It is stated that if this electricity produced is provided by natural gas, the monetary equivalent of the natural gas to be imported will be approximately 1,3 billion dollars. This shows that Türkiye has made a significant contribution to its goal of reducing energy imports. In addition, thanks to these renewable energy investments, 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions have been prevented annually. These figures clearly show that Türkiye is taking firm steps towards both economic and environmental sustainability goals. This historical success of Türkiye in the field of renewable energy has been recorded as an important milestone on the country's path to energy independence.
