Turkey has put 102 off-grid renewable power plants on line since October 2013, according to energy ministry officials.
Turkey's Electricity Distribution Corporation has approved 102 off-grid projects with 42 megawatts, ninety-six of which are solar energy plants generating capacity of 30 megawatts, four bio-gas plants with four megawatts capacity, one trigeneration plant with seven megawatts and one wind power plant with one megawatt of capacity, said officials on Tuesday.
Two hundred and eighty six solar off-grid energy project applicants filed requests to power distributors to allow them to produce their own electricity, and ninety-six have been approved by the Electricity Distribution Corporation. Many of the solar off-grid plants are located around Turkey's coastal regions; Izmir being the region with the most in Turkey with 22.
Off-grid electricity projects are defined as the production of up to one megawatt capacity of electricity by individuals, companies or legal entities. Under recently passed legislation, individual companies can generate over one megawatt of electricity by using wind turbines, solar panels or biomass technologies and also sell any surplus to regional distribution companies.
With electricity consumption rising each year, Turkey is seeking to decrease its energy bill, which is currently about $60 billion annually. It is attempting to increase its installed electricity capacity to 110,000 megawatts by 2023, from its current 68,000 megawatts.
By Oguzhan Ozsoy
Anadolu Agency
oguzhan.ozsoy@aa.com.tr