Turkey Announces New Wind and Solar Drive

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

Summary

Turkey has announced plans for a series of solar and wind auctions totalling 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity.

Turkey wants to add 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of new wind and solar power capacity and has announced that an auction will kick off in October. 

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey has allocated 1.5 GW of the proposed new capacity to onshore wind farms and the rest to solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. The country has also revealed that it wants to take another stab at creating an offshore wind farm sector, eight years after its first auction failed to attract any bids. Turkey has a well established onshore wind sector. According to Industrial Info Resources data there are 260 active onshore wind farm projects in Turkey worth US$17.7 billion in investment. Bids for the 2026 round will be accepted from October 13.

Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said: "We will continue to hold solar and wind tenders totaling at least 2,000 megawatts (MW) every year. We will reach our target of 120,000 MW for solar and wind energy, where we have significant potential, in a shorter time than planned for 2035. With the 2026 YEKA (Renewable Energy Resource Areas) tenders, we are opening a new investment period in renewable energy. We will give a new impetus to our sector with 14 solar tenders with a capacity of 900 MW and 7 wind energy tenders with a capacity of 1,500 MW."

New Offshore Wind Auction Coming

The country's first offshore wind auction for 1.2 GW of capacity in 2018 failed to attract any bids, but the government is planning another auction. With help from the World Bank, Turkey's energy ministry created an offshore wind roadmap that revealed a technical offshore wind potential of roughly 75 GW. The government has set a target of 5 GW of installed capacity for offshore wind power by 2035 and the draft specifications are for a 1 GW offshore wind tender offer to start. 

"The offshore wind energy fields identified in the Gulf of Saros, Gökçeada, Bozcaada, and Edremit represent the beginning of a new era in Türkiye's renewable energy transformation," Dr. İbrahim Erden, Chairman of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB), told Montel. "For our country, which has established significant experience and a strong industrial infrastructure in onshore wind energy, offshore wind energy offers a strategic opportunity in terms of both energy supply security and industrial development. The fact that our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources aims to tender 1 GW of capacity in the first phase and to increase offshore wind capacity to 5 GW in the medium term gives the sector a long-term and strong perspective. If the planned schedule proceeds as foreseen, we believe it is possible for our first offshore wind power plants to be commissioned around 2030."

Turkeys Energy Mix

Wind and solar installations are the fastest growing energy sectors in the country. Driven by record installation over the past three years solar generated 11% of electricity, nearly matching wind generation, according to research firm, Ember. Together, wind and solar now account for 22% of all electricity with just over 40 GW of capacity. The government wants to hit 120 GW of total wind and solar capacity by 2035, which means it will have to triple its current capacity at a rate of 8 GW per year - far more than even its best year to date in 2025. The country's largest clean power source remains hydropower at 16%, but that share continues to fall. Persistent issues caused by drought have seen hydro's share drop from up to 40% in the early 2000s. Coal-fired power, which is heavily subsidised, is the largest generator with a 34% share, but Ember says that it is now peaking. Turkey relies very heavily on coal imports and the government is looking to renewables, matched with one of Europe's largest emerging markets for battery energy storage systems (BESS), to increase its energy security as it wants to become independent in energy. Turkey aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2053.

Key Takeaways

• Turkey is aiming to offer 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of new wind and solar power capacity in its latest tender auction in October. 
• The country is also preparing its entry to the offshore wind sector with a 1 GW tender.
• Wind and solar power now account for 22% of the country's power mix.

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