A new capacity allocation process of 2,787 megawatts in the field of wind and solar energy was completed, head of Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), Mustafa Yılmaz said Saturday.
"We will jointly implement a renewable energy investment of $5 billion in 1.5-2 years at the latest," he said.
A statement by the EPDK, in which Yılmaz’s remarks were also included, said that the authority signed another critical decision that will increase the share of Turkey's domestic and renewable energy resources in electricity production.
After the revision of the connection capacities announced within the scope of energy resource areas (YEKA) wind power plants (WPP)-3 and YEKA solar power plants (SPP)-5, the 2,787 megawatts capacity that was released was reported to the EPDK, the statement read.
Yılmaz further noted that the applications to be made for the capacities will be notified to the Turkish Electrical Transmission Company (TEIAŞ) monthly.
"The importance of domestic and renewable energy sources is increasing day by day," he said, reiterating that "whoever invests in domestic and renewable energy in Turkey will never regret it."
"With this decision we have taken as the board, we have paved the way for a significant capacity for our country," he added.
Yılmaz stressed that now "it's time for investors to roll up their sleeves. We do not doubt that these investments will come to life in 1.5-2 years at the latest. I hope that this decision, which will also contribute to our net-zero carbon emission target, will be beneficial for our industry and our nation."
The capacity of renewable energy resources in Turkey has increased significantly in recent years to contribute to the fight against global climate change and the developments in clean energy technologies.
Some 97% of Turkey's electricity generation capacity that came into operation last year was from renewable energy plants.
In total, 3,446 megawatts (MWs) of licensed electricity generation capacity was activated in Turkey in 2021, according to the data of the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry.
Wind power plants accounted for 51.5% of this capacity with 1,772 MW and solar power plants for 14.5% with 498 MW.
While the share of biomass, waste heat and geothermal power plants in the licensed electricity generation capacity put into operation last year was 16.6%, thermal power plants, with 101.8 MW, constituted 3% of the capacity.
Turkey's total installed electricity capacity reached 99,820 MW by the end of 2021.
The capacity of thermal power plants within total installed power decreased by 117 MW in 2021 compared to the previous year and decreased to nearly 46,193 MW.