The Climate Investment Funds (CIF), a multilateral lending organization, announced on Thursday its commitment to support a $1 billion initiative aimed at modernizing Türkiye's electricity grid to enable it accommodate increased renewable energy capacity.
The CIF said it would provide an initial capital to the project as its board agreed a $70 million investment from its Renewable Energy Integration (REI) investment platform with the aim of drawing in a further $790 million to expand and improve transmission infrastructure and $330 million for technology.
Ultimately, the plan, developed with the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) and World Bank, is to attract more than 15 times CIF's contribution from other investors.
Türkiye's solar and wind resources would allow it to complete "one of the most ambitious clean energy scale-ups in the world" CIF Chief Executive Tariye Gbadegesin said in a statement.
"Our support for the development of a smart, flexible, and responsive national grid will help ready the country for such a rapid increase in intermittent wind and solar power."
Türkiye aims to more than double its wind energy and quadruple its solar capacity by 2035, moving toward an overall net zero target set for 2053.
The country has abundant natural resources to meet this goal, having so far tapped just 3% of its total solar and 15% of its total onshore wind energy potential, CIF said. However, effectively absorbing and dispatching these new sources of variable energy at scale requires a smart, flexible and resilient grid infrastructure, it noted.
The modernization includes strengthening connections and investing in smart-grid upgrades. The technological improvements would include digitalizing the distribution grid and increasing battery energy capacity.
Taken together, the improvements should allow Türkiye's power grid to integrate an additional 60 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar energy capacity by 2035, CIF said, quadrupling solar photovoltaic capacity from 14 GW to almost 53 GW and more than doubling wind capacity from 12 GW to 29.6 GW.
That would be enough to power around 70 million homes for a year, it added.
Türkiye's Deputy Treasury and Finance Minister Osman Çelik said Türkiye’s net zero emissions path toward sustainable future requires commitment to fostering renewable energy.
Çelik said the country was dedicated to boosting its renewable capacity in line with a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2053 and "green development goals."
"Catalyzing investments in green and clean energy holds great importance for utilizing our country’s potential in renewables. Under the Renewable Energy Integration Program, we remain committed to our strong partnership with the Climate Investment Funds, World Bank Group and EBRD to implement the essential clean energy transformation," the minister noted.
"This program provides many opportunities to diversify Türkiye's energy supply resources, foster green technology and competitiveness and thus stimulate our economic growth."
The CIF endorsement of Türkiye's investment plan follows similar steps in fellow REI program countries Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Kenya, and Mali.
Humberto Lopez, World Bank director for Türkiye, said supporting Türkiye’s ambitious clean energy scale-up is a "critical step towards achieving a sustainable future."
"This landmark investment plan aligns with the World Bank Group’s commitment to address climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy transition in Türkiye," Lopez noted.
"By enhancing the national power transmission system, and integrating clean and smart technologies, we are not only facilitating the country’s transition to renewable energy but also driving sustainable growth and job creation."