Wind power capacity increasing fast: Association

ISTANBUL – Emre Eser

Some 15,000 workers are employed in the Turkish wind power ecosystem, and Turkey is using only 10 percent of its wind energy potential, according to the head of a business association.

“Currently, our total installed wind power capacity is 8,000 megawatts [MW], but we do have a potential of up to 90,000 MW,” said Hakan Yıldırım, chair of Turkey Wind Energy Association (TÜREB).

“The wind power technology is developing. The average amount of energy generated from a single turbine is increasing rapidly. Thus, our wind power potential is also rising,” he told daily Hürriyet.

“At this point, some 15,000 people are employed in the wind energy sector,” he added, referring to the newly opened factories in which wind turbine parts are manufactured.

These factories export nearly 70 percent of their products, according to Yıldırım’s remarks.

According to TÜREB’s data, wind energy provided about 8 million Turkish homes with electricity last year.

More than 75 percent of wind farms are located in the Aegean and Marmara regions of Turkey, while some 12 percent of wind farms are located in the Mediterranean region.

İzmir province in the Aegean region saw the most installed wind capacity with 1,549 MW. The northwestern province of Balıkesir ranked second with 1,363 MW and western Manisa followed in third place with 689.9 MW.

Turkey currently operates a total of 198 wind energy power plants, the country has 25 wind farms under construction with a total of 1,309 MW.