Turkey prioritized renewable energy over thermal power plants in its clean energy transition. The Turkish government has planned to integrate nuclear energy as part of its energy mix. Turkey is the second-best country in Europe for solar power generation based on solar intensity and availability, yielding opportunities for development in addition to existing solar power plants.
The National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Turkey, presented under Directive 2009/28/ EC, is to establish strategies to promote renewable energy development in Turkey. These strategies are set to: • Ensure that the share of renewable energy in electricity production has increased to 30% of the total demand by 2023, based on the high accessibility of renewable sources in Turkey.
As per sources, approximately 56% of Türkiye’s electric power generation capacity consists of renewable energy, including hydroelectric, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power plants, making Türkey the fifth-largest generator of renewable energy in Europe and the 11th largest in the world.
Turkey meets a quarter of its energy demand from national resources. The Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), a think tank, says that in the 2010s, fossil fuel imports were probably the largest structural vulnerability of the country’s economy; they cost $41 billion in 2019, representing about a fifth of Turkey’s total import bill and were a large part of the 2018 current account deficit and the country’s debt problems. Although the country imports 99% of its natural gas and 93% of the petroleum it uses in the early 2020s, the fossil gas supply was diversified to reduce dependence on Russia.
To secure the energy supply, the government built new gas pipelines and regasification plants. According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Turkey has the potential to cut 15% to 20% of total consumption through energy conservation.
The Turkish electricity sector has experienced several challenges over the last three years.
As per the market analysis, In 2035, Türkey’s annual electricity consumption is projected to
surpass 500 TWh. The industry and service sectors are expected
to constitute more than 50% of the total consumption.
