131 power plants go online for $6 billion

ANKARA - Reuters

131 power plants have gone online in the first eight months of the year, says Energy Minister Taner Yıldız . AA photo

Some 131 power plants have gone online in Turkey with an installed capacity of 4,100 MW for $6 billion in the first eight months of the year, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız announced yesterday in a written statement.

A total of 4,150 MW was installed last year as a whole, according to the ministry data.

“Turkey’s installed power capacity reached 61,151 MW in August 2013, a 10.4 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year,” Yıldız said, adding that the total number of power plants had increased by 17 percent to 861.

Rise in private sector’s share

The power plants that became online in August 2012 had the installed capacity of 367 MW. “This figure increased to 870 MW this year. This is good, but what is better is that there was a six-fold increase in the share of the installed power from local and renewable sources in one year,” he noted. Around 150 MW of this 870 MW of installed power was by guaranteed by foreign sources, and the remaining 725 MW was guaranteed by local sources. “While the share of the private sector in power generation was just 34 percent 10 years ago, its share rose to 62 percent this year,” Yıldız said.