President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday inaugurated the Yusufeli Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), which he said is a "first in our country with a height of 275 meters (902 feet) and ranks fifth in its class worldwide."
The dam was inaugurated in Türkiye's northern Artvin province's Yusufeli district.
Addressing the ceremony, the president said the annual 1,900 billion kilowatt-hours of energy to be produced at Yusufeli Dam will provide an additional value of TL 5 billion ($270,000 million) per year to the Turkish economy.
"Even though there is an energy shortage in our country, this place will meet our energy needs for one and a half years," he added.
The president said this dam will also ensure that the nearby Artvin, Deriner, Borçka, and Muratlı dams on the Çoruh River operate with the highest efficiency.
The energy generation capacity of Yusufeli Dam, which has a water storage capacity of 2.3 billion cubic meters, is at a level that alone can meet the energy needs of 2.5 million residences or 750,000 Togg cars – Türkiye’s 1st domestic and fully electric vehicle, Erdoğan said.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez, also speaking at the ceremony, said Yusufeli Dam’s 550 megawatt installed capacity corresponds to 1.7% of Türkiye’s total HEPP installed power.
Pointing out that they have inaugurated one of the greatest legacies for the future, Dönmez said, "Yusufeli HEPP will build the century of development, power, production, success and stability, and will provide the energy of Türkiye.
"The dynamo of a growing and developing Türkiye, the pride of Turkish engineering, I hope it will be a symbol of perseverance and determination," he said.
Dönmez stated that Yusufeli's name was written in history with records and that now they "are proud of putting the world's fifth highest dam into service."
"With the electricity, it will produce, it will meet the energy needs of a city of 2.5 million people."
"Such a huge structure could only be possible with a vision of Türkiye that turns its direction towards the future and its compass towards growth and development," the minister said.
Noting that over 50% of Türkiye's renewable energy installed capacity is comprised of HEPPs, Dönmez said: "We meet 20% of our electricity production from 750 HEPP plants scattered all over Türkiye."
The country is the second in Europe and the ninth in the world with its HEPP installed capacity.
"We have made great progress not only in the construction of HEPPs, but also in placing the technologies we use here," Dönmez said, noting that the generator, turbine, and electrical automation systems, which are the most important parts for HEPP production, are now all manufactured by Turkish companies, "not only for HEPPs but also for other renewable energy sources."
"We are now developing and putting into service many products that we previously imported from abroad, with domestic means, with our own engineers. This is neither the first nor the last. We will continue to grow and develop with other renewable energy sources from now on," he added.