Turkey hits daily hydroelectric gen. record on April 16

- Hydroelectric power generation reaches 366.7 million kilowatt-hours on April 16

Turkey's hydroelectric energy generation hits a daily record on April 16, according to General Manager of Limak Holding-Energy Generation Group Taner Ercomert on Wednesday.

'Turkey's daily hydroelectric energy generation reached a historic record on 16th of April with a generation of 366.7 million kilowatt-hours (kWh),' he said.

Ercomert noted that 46 percent of the total electricity generation came from hydroelectric power plants on the same day.

'Total renewables contribution to Turkey's daily electricity generation on the same day was more than 60 percent,' Ercomert added.

Turkey, in an effort to economically maximize the use of domestic and renewable energy resources, is gradually increasing its power generation capacity from renewable resources.

While hydropower's share electricity generation in April is about 40 percent in Turkey, hydropower capacity accounts for 32 percent of the national power generation capacity, as of April 2019, according to Ercomert.

'This is a historic record, which means that this number is the highest daily hydroelectric power generation since 1950s,' he said.

'There is an increase of 120 percent in water level of reservoirs this month compared to April, 2018, which helped increasing the capacity of power generation from hydroelectric,' he explained.

After hitting 31 percent of renewable electricity production in August 2018, Turkey's authorities took concrete investment steps to revise its renewable target for 2023.

Turkey aims to supply 65 percent of energy needs from domestic and renewable sources in 2023, according to the ministry.

By Ebru Sengul and Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu

Anadolu Agency

energy@aa.com.tr