Turkey has come a long way in ensuring power supply security, while increasingly leaning toward renewable energy resources to fulfill demand, according to a recent report on the country’s top 100 largest electricity producers.
The report titled "MW100, Turkey's Top 100 Electricity Manufacturers Survey" was published in cooperation between Kearney international consulting firm's Turkey office and Turkey-based energy news portal Enerji Günlüğü. It revealed that the state giant Electricity Generation Inc. (EÜAŞ) ranked first within the list with 20.54 megawatts (MW) production capacity.
The capacity of the EÜAŞ corresponds to 23% of Turkey’s total installed capacity of 91.27 megawatts electrical (MWe).
A total of 12.78 MWe of EÜAŞ's installed power comes from hydroelectric power plants, the report stated, while 5.95 MWe is produced via natural gas plants, 1.80 MWe from domestic coal plants and 7 MWe from wind plants.
According to the report which took into consideration the installed capacities of the electric producers starting Dec. 31, 2019, ENKA – one of Turkey's largest construction and energy companies – took second place among the top producers with 3.83 MWe capacity while it is the top private sector producer on the list. ENKA stations produce 4% of the total production capacity of Turkey. Meanwhile, the experts that prepared the report stressed that although the capacity of ENKA is high, its production is gradually decreasing due to market conditions.
The ENKA was followed by Enerjisa, a joint venture of German E.ON and Turkey’s Sabancı Group with its 3.60 MWe installed power.
The report highlighted that Enerjisa has the most balanced resource distribution among the top three in the MW100 list. Enerjisa's production portfolio includes 1.58 MWe of natural gas, 450 MWe of domestic coal, 1.35 MWe of hydroelectric power and 212 MWe of a wind power plant, the report said.
Eren Enerji, Çelikler Holding, Cengiz Enerji, Limak Enerji, Aydem Enerji, İÇDAŞ Steel, Energy, Shipyard and Transportation Industry. Inc. and Bilgin Enerji were among the top 10 electricity producers of the country. The report highlighted that the companies included in the survey produce some 85% of the total installed capacity of Turkey with a total of 77,585 MWe capacity.
In terms of resources, Eren Enerji in coal plants, EÜAŞ in hydroelectric and natural gas, Güriş Holding in wind plants and Zorlu Enerji in geothermal resources took the top spots in the list.
Evaluating the research, Director of Kearney Turkey Onur Okutur said: "Strong increase in investments for renewable energy provided diversity on a resource basis."
Enerji Günlüğü Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Kara pointed out this is the first time a report has portrayed such a holistic picture of the sector.
"The MW100 aims to support investors and sector stakeholders in meeting the need to create a data and analysis supported perspective," he said, adding that they will continue to carry out research in the coming years with an expanded scope.
"I believe that we have the opportunity to see the horizons of the energy sector more clearly with MW100," he added.