Record applications received for electricity storage investments

ISTANBUL

A record number of applications has been received for energy storage investments after an amendment in the respective regulation, says Mustafa Yılmaz, head of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK).

The total capacity to be allocated for energy storage is around 30,000 megawatts, but 2,753 applications have been filed with the authority to establish such facilities with 164,000 megawatts of installed capacity, according to Yılmaz.

“The size of investments under those applications is around $230 billion,” he said.

The authority received 1,542 bids for solar power-based storage facilities for electricity production with a total of 72,400 megawatts of installed capacity, according to Yılmaz.

Some 1,211 applications were filed to establish wind power facilities with 91,800 megawatts of installed generation capacity, he added.

“As we have noted previously, taking the current capacity into account, actual investments to be undertaken will be around between $40 billion to $45 billion.”

With those storage investments, more local renewable energy capacity will be added to the system, and the country’s energy security will be further enhanced as more capacity will be made available, Yılmaz said.

Türkiye’s electricity consumption rose by 12 percent in 2021 to 327 billion kilowatts per hour, while the country’s production also increased by 12 percent to around 329 billion kilowatts per hour.

The latest data from the EPDK showed that the installed capacity, including licensed and unlicensed power plants, stood at 103,276 MW as of the end of October.