Wind capacity in operation rises to 5.15 GW

As of July, there were 127 operational wind power plants in Turkey, compared to 113 at the beginning of the year. The capacity increased by 428 MW to 5.15 GW in the six months through June, according to a regular report by the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA or Türeb). Last year there was 956 MW in newly operational facilities.

Polat Enerji was the largest investor according to the latest data, owning 10.85% of capacity. Next were Demirer Enerji and Bilgin Enerji, with 7.5% and 6.64%, respectively. Nordex, with 25.69% of capacity, was the leading turbine manufacturer in operational power plants in the sector, followed by Vestas, 24.34%, Enercon, 23.84%, and GE, with 13.28%.

TWEA registered a total of 86 licenced projects in the semiannual report, with 3.24 GW.

The biggest capacity was in the Aegean (Ege) region in the west  – 37.49%, slightly outpacing the northwestern area of Marmara, around the sea of the same name and including Istanbul, with 37.33%. Wind power units with 13.94% were in the Mediterranean (Akdeniz) region in the south.

The province with the most wind power, 970 MW, was Balıkesir in Marmara. The area around the Aegean metropolis of Izmir was close behind, with 936 MW, and neighbouring Manisa to the east had 575 MW.

As of July, there were 54 power plants under construction, with 1.49 GW. The biggest investor was Güriş (11.11%). Gestamp held 5.55%, Zorlu Enerji came in at 5.41%, and Borusan EnBW had 5.3%. Türkerler Enerji, Çalik Enerji, Dost Enerji, Fina Enerji, and Acarsoy Enerji were all registered with between 4% and 5% of new capacity. Just above half of the total under construction was in the Aegean, while locations in Marmara had 21.05%, followed by the Mediterranean, with 13.08%. There was also a total of 86 licenced projects with 3.24 GW and an equivalent distribution in the leading three regions.

Turkey had 10.4 MW of capacity at 14 unlicenced facilities under operation as of January, all commissioned last year. At the same time, projects were approved for 107 unlicenced wind farms with 81.7 MW.