2021 was record year for annual wind installations in Turkey

Turkey has installed wind farms with a record capacity of 1,750 megawatts (MW) in total in 2021. The main driver was the YEKDEM incentive scheme, local media reported. The previous record was set in 2016 with 1,248 MW.

Wind power capacity reached 10,750 MW at the end of 2021, out of a total 100,000 MW for the production of electricity. Fifteen years ago the wind farm capacity was only 240 MW.

The newly installed 1.750 MW accounts for 50 percent of all power plants built in 2021, according to the Daily Sabah.

Turkey generates 56 percent of electricity from fossil fuels, mainly coal and natural gas, and the rest from renewables, mainly hydropower plants. On November 28, wind power plants in Turkey produced the largest daily amount of electricity in the production mix for the first time, outpacing natural gas and coal.

Investments were accelerated in 2021 ahead of the abolishment of the Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism

According to Ebru Arıcı, president of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA), new wind farms are the result of the foreign currency-based incentive scheme – the Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM). The scheme ended last year so investors rushed to commission their power plants before the deadline, she underlined.

Arıcı said the construction of 30 wind farms with an overall 800 MW is underway.

There is great interest for combining wind and solar in hybrid projects

Currently the investors in wind farms are the most interested in the installation of hybrid power plants, by combining them with solar, Arıcı said, Anadolu Agency reported.

There are applications for hybrid power plants with an installed capacity of 2,000 MW.

According to Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the country aims to add wind farms and solar parks with 10,000 MW in total capacity by 2027.