Photo: Şinasi Müldür from Pixabay
Turkey can reduce foreign dependence on fossil fuels for electricity production to less than 25% by 2030 with an accelerated clean energy transition, according to a study by think thank Ember.
The solution is to invest in wind and solar to cover more than a third of total power generation. Last year Turkey generated 50% of its electricity from imported coal and gas.
Ember’s study presents a summary of various electricity transition pathways towards 2030 under the guidance of recently conducted modeling studies on the Turkish electricity system.
In 2021 Turkey announced a net zero target by 2053, and now it is preparing a strategy to achieve it
The results are aimed to guide and understand the targets to be set in the Ministry Of Energy’s long-term energy plan which is expected to be in line with Turkey’s 2053 net zero target, Ember said.
To lower dependence on fossil fuel imports, around 4 GW of new solar power capacity is needed every year by 2030.
Recent deployment rates hover around only 1 GW per year, despite the fact that domestic manufacturing capacity could achieve eight times more every year and solar auctions are attracting applications for capacity 10-15 times larger, the study reads.
Alparslan: Relying on fossil fuels for electricity is expensive and unreliable
Wind power capacity needs around a threefold rise by 2030 from the 11.1 GW measured in August 2022.
It means around 2.5 GW in wind power capacity would need to be added every year by 2030 – significantly more than recent yearly wind installations (~1 GW/year), according to the study.
Ufuk Alparslan, Regional Lead – Turkey, Ukraine & the Western Balkans at Ember, said the world has woken up to the fact that relying on fossil fuels for electricity is expensive and unreliable.
“The solution is to harness cheap and clean renewables: wind and solar. Wind and solar will play a crucial role in the future to make a country with limited energy resources like Turkey more independent,” Alparslan added.
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