Turkey’s electricity power at 58,000 MW

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey has increased its installed electricity capacity to 58,000 MW by adding a capacity nearly 5,000 MW every year in the last five years. DHA photo

Turkey has increased its installed electricity capacity to 58,000 megawatts (MW) by adding a capacity of around 5,000 MW every year since 2008, according to Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) President Hasan Köktaş yesterday. 

Köktaş said Turkey’s electricity consumption had seen an annual average 8 percent hike in the last 40 years. “Installed electricity power equivalent to twice that of the Atatürk Dam – Turkey’s largest dam – has come into operation every year in the last five years,” he said at a press event. Turkey’s installed capacity has now reached almost 58,000 MW. 

Köktaş observed that half of the foreign capital that arrived in Turkey between 2008 and 2012 was invested in the energy sector, and 60 percent of credit loans was used for energy investments during this period. 

However, he underlined that coal, oil and natural gas would remain the country’s basic energy resources, despite the search for new resources. 

Köktaş disagrees with the idea that global oil and natural gas reserves are decreasing day by day as Turkey’s and the world’s demand increases. He claimed that present natural gas reserves could satisfy global demand for the next 100 years.