Wind power plants accounted for more than half of Turkey’s additional power capacity installations during the first four months of this year. According to data compiled by Anadolu Agency, about 51.5% of the 1,268 megawatts (MW) installed from January through April came from wind plants.
At the end of April 2021, Turkey’s total installed electricity capacity surpassed 97,000 MW. Out of the total capacity, renewables accounted for 51,000 MW.
The 652.3 MW added by wind power in the January-April period were driven by new installations in the provinces of Balıkesir, Bursa, Çanakkale, Kırklareli in the Marmara region, and Aydın, Izmir, and Muğla in the Aegean region, as well as Hatay and Van in the east.
Regarding newly installed capacity during the January-April period, hydropower ranked second with 363.8 MW, accounting for 28.7% of total added capacity. Solar power capacity reached 161.7 MW, equivalent to 12.8%, with Van, Mersin, and Konya as the leading solar provinces. Biomass and geothermal produced 59 MW, while thermal power plant capacity generated 30.8 MW.
Overall, renewable resources accounted for 97.5% of installed capacity during the first four months of this year.
Last year, Turkey added a record capacity of around 4,900 MW, most of which came from renewable sources. What is the main driver behind this growth? The Renewable Energy Support Scheme (YEKDEM) was scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2020, pushing the investors to complete their projects in time.
The same progress continued as the scheme was extended to June 30, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused supply chain interruptions in the first half of last year.
YEKDEM, which launched in 2011, supports solar and biomass plants at 13.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), geothermal facilities at 10.5 cents per kWh, and wind and hydropower plants at 7.3 cents per kWh. However, these figures may vary a little depending on locally produced plant equipment use.
