Turkey sees growth in renewable energy and hydrogen

Renewables and hydrogen energy are a big part of newly added energy capacity in Turkey, according to a study from global strategy consulting firm Kearney.

Turkey’s power generation capacity increased in 2023 by around 3% from the previous year. The vast majority of that 2.9 GW of new capacity came from renewable sources. Currently, renewables make up 53% of the total installed capacity in Turkey, a higher percentage than some Western European countries.

By all accounts, Turkey is on a roll when it comes to boosting power. In the past 15 years, total power generation capacity (GW generated per year) more than doubled, in fact. And since the outbreak of war in Ukraine crippled many European energy markets, Turkey managed to actually improve its position.

When it comes to electricity generation (the amount of electricity in TW that can be produced in an hour), Turkey has its capacity grow by 1.5 times over the past 15 years.

Of that increased generation, the share of geothermal, solar, and wind energy has nearly doubled in the past five years. The combined share of those renewables increased from 1% to 20% in the past 15 years.

The Kearney study shows that natural gas as a source of power has steadily declined over the past 15 years in Turkey. Domestic coal also declined somewhat, but imported coal remains a significant source of emissions and has not decreased significantly in recent years.

Part of the reason for the decline in natural gas usage has been an increase in investment in renewables. That has proven to be great news for Turkey, which aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2053.

“The transition to renewable energy supports Turkey’s goal to shift to domestic sources of energy in the long term,” said Onur Okutur partner at Kearney.

Last year, the country published its net-zero roadmap, which prominently features hydrogen as a clean source to replace the fossil fuels currently used. Part of that plan is to increase the number of green hydrogen plants and to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production to make it competitive.

Several energy companies, the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology, and 13 other stakeholders have joined forces to work on a public-private new green hydrogen plant, known as the South Marmara Hydrogen Shore project. The so-called Hydrogen Valley project is another similar initiative.

“Hydrogen initiatives are under way in Turkey, presenting an eco-friendly energy alternative,” Okutur said.

According to the study, the leader in power generation capacity is still EÜAŞ, the state-owned generation company. The rest of the top ten players in Turkey’s energy sector are private companies. The top 10 producers generate 43% of all power generation capacity in the nation.