Turkey breaks power consumption record on stifling hot day

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s daily electricity consumption increased by 16.1 percent on June 28 compared to the previous day, reaching 988,379 megawatt hours, according to official figures released by the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ) yesterday.

The hourly power consumption peaked at 48,954 megawatt hours at 3 p.m. local time, data from TEİAŞ showed.

The country’s electricity usage dropped to its lowest daily level of 30,789 megawatt hours at 6 a.m. local time.

Heatwaves increased average temperature by over 30 degrees Celsius in the northern provinces and around 40 degrees Celsius in the southern provinces on June 28.

According to local media, the spike in power consumption was caused by increased use of air-conditioning systems and recovery at industrial sites after most of the pandemic-related restrictions were eased.

Electricity production amounted to 994,889 megawatt hours on June 28, marking a 16.1 percent increase from June 27.

Turkey’s electricity production from natural gas plants constituted 33.7 percent of total electricity consumption, while hydroelectricity power plants held a 16.4 percent share and imported coal plants comprised 15.2 percent.

On June 28, Turkey’s electricity exports amounted to 12,324 megawatt hours, while imports totaled 6,324 megawatt hours.