According to the report of the International Energy Agency, Turkey uses 3% of its potential in solar energy and 15% in wind.
It is predicted that Turkey’s installed capacity in renewable energy will increase by 21 thousand megawatts to 49% by 2024.
According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Turkey 2021 Energy Policy Assessment report, Turkey’s population growth and economic growth in the last 20 years have increased the energy demand and dependence on imported resources.
While Turkey is speeding up its oil and natural gas exploration efforts to ensure energy supply security, the discovery of natural gas in the Sakarya Gas Field has stood out as an important achievement in this process.
It has been calculated that Turkey’s dependence on natural gas imports could decrease by 36% and its energy import bill by 10% in the medium term, in the event that production starts in the said field in 2023.
Turkey, whose renewable energy capacity has increased by 50% in the last 5 years, ranked 5th in Europe and 15th in the world among the countries with the highest renewable energy capacity in 2019. The share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation was 44% in 2019.
The renewable energy tenders that were held succeeded in reducing costs and increasing renewable energy investments.
Nuclear power to strengthen low-carbon energy portfolio
According to the report, Turkey’s renewable energy installed capacity is projected to grow by 49%, increasing by 21,000 megawatts until 2024.
On the other hand, Turkey, which uses an estimated 3% of its solar energy potential and 15% of its wind energy potential, can show stronger growth in renewable energy and can use these resources in different sectors other than electricity generation.
While it is predicted that the commissioning of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in 2023 will strengthen the country’s low-carbon energy portfolio, it is important to support electric vehicles, energy storage, and digital technologies.
Supporting Turkey’s successful steps that increase predictability and transparency in energy markets in the last 10 years with additional reforms is expected to increase investments in the electricity and natural gas sectors.
Increase in emissions should be closely monitored
According to the report, Turkey’s focus needs to be on the sustainability of the energy sector and reducing carbon emissions to create a modern and competitive economy. In this context, it is recommended to rethink the role of lignite power plants in a low carbon future and to set new targets.
Emissions from the energy sector in Turkey have increased by 43% in the last 10 years. While electricity and heating were the sectors that emit the most emissions, these sectors were followed by transportation and industry. Coal has been the biggest source of Turkey’s emissions since 1997.
IEA President Fatih Birol, whose evaluations are included in the report, stated that Turkey has diversified its energy resources to a great extent in the last 10 years, and added saying, “Renewable energy, especially hydroelectricity, solar and wind, has shown impressive growth. During this period, significant progress was made in liberalizing energy markets and increasing energy security.”
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz