Turkey aims to boost wind turbine output

ANKARA

Turkey aims to increase domestic production of wind turbine parts with 16 Turkish producers, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said.

Turkish producers have been exporting wind energy equipment to 45 countries throughout six continents, he said at a congress organized by the Turkish Wind Energy Association in Ankara on Dec. 15.

Turkey already boasts a 65 percent domestic production rate employing approximately 15,000 people for the production of wind turbine parts, including rotor blades, turbine towers, fasteners and generator parts.

“About 10 percent of the country’s electricity needs are met by the wind energy sector with a total capacity of over 10,500 megawatts,” said Dönmez.

Currently, 63 power plants with an installed capacity of 1,585 megawatts are under construction.

Wind power became the largest source of electricity generation for the first time with a 22.6 percent share on Nov. 28, according to the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation.

Wind power plants generated 178,964 megawatt-hours out of a total of 791,794 megawatt-hours of daily electricity output.
Turkey’s installed wind power capacity reached 10,585 megawatts, making it the second-largest renewable capacity after hydropower.

Natural gas power plants followed with a 22 percent share of electricity generation on Nov. 28, and imported coal power plants ranked third with a 17.8 percent share.