ISTANBUL

Türkiye and Saudi Arabia signed an energy investment agreement Tuesday worth about $2 billion, covering wind and solar power projects in Türkiye, the Turkish energy minister announced.

"In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, we signed the Intergovernmental Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Renewable Energy Power Plant Projects with my Saudi counterpart, His Excellency Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud," Alparslan Bayraktar wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

The two countries aim for Saudi companies to construct solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) in Türkiye, said Bayraktar.

As the first phase of the investment, solar power plant projects with a total capacity of 2,000 MW will be implemented in the Turkish provinces of Sivas and Karaman.

"We view these investments, which will be among the most significant examples of direct foreign investments in our energy sector, as fully financed through external funding. Credit will also be provided by international financial institutions," he noted.

He stated that the solar power plants, to be established with an investment of approximately $2 billion, will meet the electricity needs of 2.1 million households.

"These projects, which demonstrate confidence in Türkiye's investment climate and energy sector, constitute one of the most important steps toward the target set by our esteemed President to reach an installed capacity of 120,000 MW in solar and wind power by 2035," Bayraktar added.

Bayraktar was part of the delegation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited Riyadh on Tuesday.