Turkey is on its way to being among Europe's five biggest renewable energy countries, with a 50% renewable energy installed capacity growth set to reach 63 gigawatts (GW) by 2024, according to a new report released by International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday.
The agency’s Renewable Energy 2019 report forecasts that global installed renewable-based power capacity will increase by 1,200 GW between 2019 and 2024.
The expected growth comes after renewable capacity additions stalled last year for the first time in almost two decades. However, the renewed expansion remains well below what is needed to meet global sustainable energy targets, the IEA underlined in the report.
The increase of 1,200 GW, which is equivalent to the current total power capacity of the United States, is driven by cost reductions and concerted government policy efforts, the report finds.
Solar PV accounts for 60% of the rise while distributed solar PV systems are due to be the main growth driver.
By the end of 2018, China had 730 GW of installed renewable power, and by 2024, it is expected to reach 1,219 GW – a level that will ensure that the country will continue to hold the title as the world's renewable energy leader in the coming five years.
The U.S., with 280 GW of installed renewable power by the end of 2018, will follow China as the second biggest renewables country. The U.S. will have 411 GW of installed clean energy power while India will reach 235 GW in 2024, the report forecasts.
Germany will have the fourth-highest renewable energy capacity with 166 GW. Brazil is set to build 156 GW of renewable-based power in 2024 to rank in fifth place on the global renewable leaders’ list.
Japan will follow with 153 GW. Canada and Spain are anticipated to reach 107 GW and 81 GW in 2024, respectively. France will create 80 GW while Italy is set to become the world's 10th country with the highest renewable energy capacity in 2024.
-Turkey to see incremental rise in renewable capacity
Turkey had 42 GW of installed renewable power at the end of 2018, and this is set to increase by 50% between 2019 and 2024 to reach around 63 GW by 2024, according to the IEA.
This capacity will make Turkey one of the five countries in Europe with the highest renewable-based capacity ranking 11th in the world, the report findings show.
'This is a very important step for Turkey,' Heymi Bahar, senior analyst at the IEA, told Anadolu Agency.
Turkey will follow Germany, France, Spain and Italy in Europe with its extended renewable power, he said, underlining that Turkey will see a technology shift in the coming five years as 75% of the additional installed renewable capacity between 2019 and 2024 will come from solar and wind.
- Solar set to shine more
According to the report, the most remarkable share in Turkey's capacity increase will come from solar power installations.
Turkey is forecast to add 10 GW of solar capacity by 2024 out of which 3.7 GW will derive from distributed systems, namely rooftops. As a result, solar power is due to increase by 198% between 2019 and 2024, the IEA finds.
Bahar commented that distributed power systems would open a new market in Turkey to follow the global trend in the sector.
'We expect that a growing number of distributed solar systems will be installed by factories, schools, organized industrial zones and markets which will have higher capacities compared to the household installations,' he said.
The country had 5.1 GW of installed solar power by the end of 2018, with only 0.5 GW coming from distributed systems out of this total solar capacity.
Wind will also play a key role for Turkey in the region, with new wind technologies and greater equipment production, Bahar said, noting that offshore wind is an area that has great potential.
The wind sector will mark the second-highest rise of 5.9 GW by 2024 ensuring Turkey's total installed wind capacity will reach 12.9 GW.
'Considering the fact that Turkey is surrounded by sea on its three sides, the country has good potential for offshore wind energy production. Despite the fact that we do not forecast any offshore capacity installations in Turkey until 2024, we think the offshore market could grow in the longer future,' he said.
According to the report, Turley's hydropower will reach 31 GW in 2024 with an 11% growth rate compared to the 28 GW of installed capacity at the end of 2018. Geothermal and bioenergy capacities will also rise to 2.1 GW and 1.5 GW, respectively by 2024.
In total, Turkey will add almost 21 GW to its installed renewable energy capacity between 2019 and 2024.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr