Since the beginning of this year, Turkey's photovoltaic installations have grown rapidly, and only in the first two months of 2024, Turkey added 1.1 GW of new power generation capacity, equivalent to about half of the total photovoltaic installations in 2023. According to Hakan Erkan, secretary general of the Turkish Solar Industry Association (GENSED), industry and commerce account for at least three-quarters of the total installed capacity.

There are two key policies:

1. The Turkish government allows companies to sell surplus electricity, but not more than they consume, meaning companies can install up to twice as many components as they use.
2. Exporters want to reduce their carbon emissions by using photovoltaic power, so as to obtain an exemption from the EU CBAM carbon border tax. The tax will be imposed from 2026.

For large power plants, Turkey will restart the renewable energy tender early next year, this round will allocate 2 GW of wind and solar installed capacity, will provide a price floor and long-term power purchase guarantee, more details will be announced in the near future.

Significantly increase the 2035 installed capacity target

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar delivers a keynote speech at the Energy Transition - Renewable Energy 2035 conference in Istanbul, Turkey, last week.

1. Turkey's national target is to increase its installed wind and solar capacity to 120GW by 2035. Turkey will launch 90GW of new renewable energy capacity (7.5-8 GW per year), while building a new transmission grid, upgrading infrastructure, investing about $108 billion in new energy, and launching a new reform process.
2. Turkey will soon publish a detailed renewable energy development strategy to 2035.
3. Turkey's energy policy is driven by three key objectives, including security of supply, reducing external energy dependence and achieving net zero emissions by 2053.
4. Turkey is actively promoting the construction of electricity and gas interconnection infrastructure with neighboring countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Greece
5. According to Turkey's National Energy Plan, electricity consumption in Turkey is expected to reach 380.2 TWH in 2025, increase further to 455.3 TWH in 2030, and climb to 510.5 TWH in 2035. The additional energy demand brought about by artificial intelligence, big data, transportation revolution (especially in the context of energy revolution), and electric vehicles will significantly increase the demand for electricity, most likely exceeding the target. 6. Turkey plans to become a carbon pricing country and establish a carbon market by 2026.
6. Nuclear energy is considered an important source of energy to provide a reliable base load, and Turkey is building its first nuclear power plant, with the first reactor expected to be operational by 2025 and all four reactors expected to be operational by 2028, meeting 10 percent of Turkey's electricity demand.
7. Turkey has implemented a national energy Efficiency action plan and achieved significant results. Between 2017 and 2023, Turkey reduced its primary energy consumption by 14% through energy efficiency measures.
8. Turkey is the fourth largest natural gas market in Europe, consuming more than 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Turkey has discovered a large gas field in the Black Sea and has started production. The Black Sea gas field is expected to produce 20 million cubic meters per day by 2026.
9. Turkey also aims to shorten the renewable energy licensing process, which currently takes about 48 months, to two years or less.