Record 4.8 GW of new plants in 2020 boosts Turkey’s renewables capacity to 49 GW

Turkey has added the most renewable capacity in one year in 2020 – around 4.8 GW, making renewables account for 49 GW out of 95 GW of its total installed power.

The record increase in new renewable energy power plants was driven for the most part by investors’ rush to have projects online in time to get feed-in tariffs under the Renewable Energy Resources Support Scheme (YEKDEM), which was due to expire on December 31, 2020.

Half of the additional renewable energy capacity last year came from hydropower plants, while wind, solar, and biomass accounted for the rest, according to the Anadolu Agency (AA).

New green power plants attracted investments totaling USD 7 billion.

According to the 2020 official data, a stunning 99.6% of the new capacity in Turkey was from renewables.

“Almost all of the total increase in power capacity in Turkey last year came from renewables which was a remarkable trend,” said Deloitte Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Industry Leader, Elif Dusmez Tek.

YEKDEM was extended to June 30

YEKDEM, which was rolled out in 2011, supports wind and hydropower plants at USD 0.073 per kWh, geothermal facilities at USD 0.105 kWh, and solar and biomass plants at USD 0.133 kWh.

For example, renewable power plants received USD 6.41 billion under the YEKDEM in 2019.

Turkey’s motivation to end the scheme was due to its dollar-based trade, while uncertainty over a replacement scheme encouraged investors to complete projects before the current scheme’s expiry date, AA reported.

The scheme, however, was extended to June 30 this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused supply chain disruptions, especially in the first half of last year.