Bayraktar: Turkey aims to reach 100 GW in wind, solar capacity by 2035

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkey wants to increase its wind and solar power capacity to an overall 100 GW by 2035. The country can export 25 billion cubic meters of gas to European markets, he claimed.

Speaking at Gastech 2024 in Houston, Texas, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar highlighted the importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States for Turkey. He said gas would be secured from different countries and domestic production.

After discovering the Sakarya natural gas field in the Black Sea in 2020, Turkish production is now at 7.5 million cubic meters per day, Bayraktar noted. It is equivalent to the demand of 2.6 million households, he pointed out. Sakarya came online a year and a half ago.

Three challenges for energy sector

The three main challenges for the country’s energy sector are to meet demand from households to industry, lower import dependency and conduct the energy transition, the minister explained. He acknowledged that two thirds of primary energy is from abroad.

The country aspires to achieve carbon neutrality by 2053

Turkey wants to increase its wind and solar power capacity to 100 GW in total by 2035, Bayraktar revealed, from the current 30 GW. It recently topped 16 GW in operational photovoltaic capacity.

Conventional, large nuclear power plants as well as small modular reactors need to enter the energy mix, he added. The government is working on the exploration and extraction of critical minerals and the expansion of electricity transmission capacity to integrate more renewables, the minister asserted.

Bayraktar points to significance of gas interconnections for Turkey

Turkey invested heavily in gas infrastructure including pipelines, international projects and underground storage, according to Bayraktar. “We have increased our regasification capacity by almost fivefold and so our entire supply portfolio is changing and transforming. We are moving from long-term pipeline contracts to more flexible long-term LNG contracts,” he stated.

It is creating a big change in the market, with more competitive market solutions, in the minister’s view. Turkey has the fourth-largest gas market in Europe, with a consumption of 50 billion cubic meters per year, Bayraktar said. The country can secure up to 75 billion cubic meters including domestic production, he claimed.

It leaves 25 billion cubic meters per year for European markets, he stressed. “All we need to do is to increase the interconnection capacities with Greece and Bulgaria,” Bayraktar said.

Turkey has the ambition to make its economy carbon neutral by 2053. The efforts include support for the domestic manufacturers of energy equipment and local sourcing requirements for projects in the sector.

Bayraktar earlier reiterated that the country aims to commission nuclear power plants and SMRs with a combined capacity of 20 GW by 2050.