Clean power investments in Turkey have hit $66 billion with renewables constituting over 53% of Turkey’s total installed electricity capacity, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.
Installed renewable capacity amounted to 52,353 megawatts out of a total installed capacity of 98,493 megawatts as at the end of last month, Turkey's Electricity Transmission Company data showed.
According to the Renewable Energy Investors Association (GUYAD), the investment value per megawatt is dependent on the source, area where it is generated, the technology used, global costs and incentives.
Taking these parameters into consideration, hydropower investments reached $35 billion with 31,441 megawatts of installed capacity.
Turkey's investments in the wind sector, which ranks as the second-largest clean generating power in the country at 10,014 megawatts, is calculated as around $13 billion.
Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Ministry announced last week that wind power capacity exceeded the 10,000-megawatt threshold in August when the country ranked as one of the 10 top countries worldwide with the highest wind power, and the fifth in Europe with over 10,000 megawatts.
Solar power generated about $10 billion in investment with 7,435 megawatts of installed capacity.
Turkey's geothermal capacity reached 1,650 megawatts with an investment of about $6 billion, while the investment volume for 1,813 megawatts in biomass power plants stood at $2 billion.
By the end of August, hydropower accounted for 32% of the total installed electricity capacity, wind contributed 10.2%, solar comprised 7.5%, and geothermal and biomass constituted 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively.
The share of renewables in electricity generation during the January-August period of this year remained relatively low at 37.7% due to drought in the country. Natural gas replaced lower output from hydropower plants during this period.
Renewables generated around 83.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity out of 221.6 billion kilowatt-hours of total output during the January-August period.
- Wind leads in capacity growth this year
Turkey added a total of 2,602 megawatts of renewable capacity this year, accounting for almost all of the growth.
Wind led the additional capacity during the January-August period with 1,182 megawatts, followed by 768 megawatts of solar, 457 megawatts of hydropower, 328 megawatts of biomass and 37 megawatts of geothermal capacity.
Turkey aims to add 1,000 megawatts of solar and 1,000 megawatts of wind per year.
- Capacity of renewables varies among regions
Wind power installations are mainly located in Turkey's Aegean and Marmara regions.
Izmir, an Aegean province, ranked top in wind capacity with 1,715 megawatts while Balikesir and Canakkale followed with 1,296 and 899 megawatts, respectively.
In hydropower, the southeastern province of Sanliurfa had the highest capacity with 3,128 megawatts. Elazig followed with 2,445 megawatts and Diyarbakir with 2,251 megawatts.
The Anatolian region of Konya is the capital of solar power in Turkey with 964 megawatts of installed capacity. Ankara lags behind with 393 megawatts and Sanliurfa with 379 megawatts.
Turkey’s installed geothermal capacity is mainly sourced in the Aegean region of the country, with the Aydin province leading with 848 megawatts of capacity.
The Manisa province follows with 378 megawatts of capacity and Denizli with 378 megawatts.
Turkey's business capital of Istanbul led in biomass capacity with 207 megawatts, while Ankara and Izmir had 123 megawatts and 84 megawatts, respectively.
- Leading renewable companies in Turkey
Turkey's state company Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) has by far the largest hydropower capacity in the country at 13,993 megawatts, followed by a private sector company, Cengiz Holding, with 1,443 megawatts.
In wind power, Borusan EnBw and Demirer Energy lead with 660 megawatts and 613.7 megawatts, respectively.
Kalyon Energy ranks first in solar capacity with 398 megawatts, while Cengiz Holding follows with 173.6 megawatts of solar capacity.
Zorlu Energy has the highest geothermal capacity at 305 megawatts and Gurmat ranks second in this field with 206 megawatts.
In biomass, ITC leads with 130 megawatts and ISTAC follows with 92.8 megawatts.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr