Solar surge: Meeting two-thirds of the rise in Türkiye’s peak electricity demand in 2024

In 2024, solar energy generation in Türkiye surged by over 40% in the first eight months, playing a critical role in meeting record-high peak electricity demand driven by increasing cooling needs. Solar power now meets 18% of peak demand, up from 2.5% in 2017, and covered two-thirds of the peak demand increase compared to 2023.

• Solar energy's contribution to meeting Türkiye's peak electricity demand has grown significantly, rising from 2.5% in 2017 to 18% in 2024. Over the last five years, solar power has covered 70% of the 8.7 GWh increase in hourly peak electricity demand.
• In 2024, solar energy covered two-thirds of the increase in peak demand compared to 2023, an improvement from 52% the previous year. On July 23, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., solar generation exceeded 10 GWh, which was sufficient to meet the total hourly electricity demand for the provinces of İzmir, Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Manisa, Aydın, and Muğla, serving over 10 million people.
• Climate change and hotter summers have increased cooling demand, leading to record peak electricity use. In July 2024, peak demand rose by 6.9% to 58 GWh compared to 2023, with future projections estimating 68–81 GWh by 2030. Cooling degree days (CDD) in June 2024 were three times the average of the previous five years, and 1.5 times higher in July 2024.
• Solar energy production reached several records in 2024: on June 16, its hourly share of electricity generation hit 46% and its daily share surpassed 17%. In the first eight months of 2024, total solar generation exceeded 18 TWh, a more than 40% increase over the same period in 2023, raising solar's share of electricity generation from 6% to 8%.
• Solar installations helped Türkiye avoid investing in approximately 16 GW of fossil fuel capacity in 2024. The country has a rooftop solar potential of at least 120 GW and currently has over 14 GW of solar capacity with storage in pre-licensing stages, which significantly exceeds the National Energy Plan's 2030 target of 2.1 GW.
• The report notes challenges with data transparency from the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ), citing abnormal daily increases in installed capacity. For example, between June 30 and July 1, 2024, solar capacity reportedly increased by approximately 17% (2.6 GW) in a single day, which the report suggests can mislead national system indicator assessments and weaken forecasting.

APA

Ember (2024). Solar surge: Meeting two-thirds of the rise in Türkiye’s peak electricity demand in 2024. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-surge-meeting-two-thirds-of-the-rise-in-turkiyes-peak-electricity-demand-in-2024

Chicago

Ember. Solar surge: Meeting two-thirds of the rise in Türkiye’s peak electricity demand in 2024. 2024. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-surge-meeting-two-thirds-of-the-rise-in-turkiyes-peak-electricity-demand-in-2024.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Solar surge: Meeting two-thirds of the rise in Türkiye’s peak electricity demand in 2024 |date=26 November 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-surge-meeting-two-thirds-of-the-rise-in-turkiyes-peak-electricity-demand-in-2024 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2024solar, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Solar surge: Meeting two-thirds of the rise in Türkiye’s peak electricity demand in 2024}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-surge-meeting-two-thirds-of-the-rise-in-turkiyes-peak-electricity-demand-in-2024}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }