Türkiye to add 60 gigawatts capacity to renewables in a decade

MOSCOW

Türkiye aims to develop an additional 60 gigawatts of solar and wind power capacity over the next 12 years, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Speaking at the Russian Energy Week in Moscow, Bayraktar recalled that Türkiye targets to reach net zero emissions by 2053.

“We only have 30 years to meet this target. We need to overhaul our entire energy system and transform all our industries from agriculture to transport,” he said.

In order to meet this target, Türkiye needs to install 5 gigawatts of solar and wind power capacity each year, the minister noted.

Renewable energy presently accounts for 55 percent of Türkiye’s installed power capacity, Bayraktar said. “We want to increase this even further.”

“Türkiye is a growing market and demand for electricity and natural gas has been on the rise. Demand has almost tripled over the past 20 years,” he said.

Energy demand in Türkiye grows 4.7 percent each year and this trend is expected to continue in the next 20 years, according to the minister.

“Therefore, a significant amount of investment should be made for energy production in Türkiye.”

Bayraktar also said that Russia’s Rosatom wants to invest in Türkiye’s renewable energy market.

“We are currently developing projects for solar and wind energy,” he said, without providing further details.

Bayraktar noted that Rosatom, which is building the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, has expressed interest in the nuclear power plant to be built in the northern province of Sinop.

“The Akkuyu Power Plant’s capacity is 4.8 gigawatts. However, in the long term, we need at least 20 gigawatts of installed power in nuclear energy. We also need the second and third nuclear power plants,” Bayraktar said.

Speaking at the same event, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the establishment of an electronic platform for gas trading with Europe is the main goal of the gas hub project in Türkiye at this initial stage.

"First and foremost, this includes establishing an electronic gas trading platform throughout Europe. All those who wish to buy our resources on the European continent, as well as us and our Turkish friends, are interested in this," he said, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Given that both Russia and Türkiye are interested in the project, Putin added that Russia does not see any significant obstacles in building the platform.