The south can unlock Türkiye’s solar ambitions

The report analyzes Türkiye's shift in renewable energy generation from the hydro-rich east to the wind and solar-rich west and center. It highlights the vulnerability of the energy system to droughts, which historically force a reliance on imported gas. While Konya has seen massive solar growth due to the Karapınar plant, other high-potential southern provinces like Antalya and Van remain underutilized. The report advocates for more ambitious wind and solar targets to ensure energy security and meet net-zero goals.

• Droughts in 2018 and 2021 significantly reduced hydropower output, forcing Türkiye to use expensive imported gas to fill the energy gap. In 2021, precipitation was the lowest in two decades, causing national hydro generation to fall from 56 TWh to 22 TWh.
• There is a significant geographical mismatch between solar potential and actual deployment. While Konya produced 21% of national solar generation in 2022, high-potential provinces like Antalya and Van contributed only 3% and 2% respectively.
• The Karapınar Solar Power Plant in Konya is a primary driver of solar growth; it accounted for 63% of the country's total licensed solar power generation in 2022 and is set to become Europe's largest solar plant with 1350 MW capacity in 2023.
• Regulatory changes in May 2021 and August 2022 for unlicensed solar projects—specifically removing the requirement for plants to be at the consumption point—led to a fivefold increase in capacity applications, rising from 1.2 GW in 2021 to 6 GW in 2022.
• Wind generation is heavily concentrated in western provinces, with İzmir alone producing 17% of the national total in 2022. However, the YEKA auction model for wind has faced significant delays, with projects from the 2017 auction not expected to start construction until 2023.
• Türkiye's National Energy Plan targets for solar (52.9 GW by 2035) and wind (18 GW by 2030) are deemed insufficient by Ember. To halve fossil fuel imports for power generation by 2030, Ember suggests a need for 40 GW of solar and 30 GW of wind capacity.
• Geothermal and biomass generation are highly localized. Three provinces (Aydın, Manisa, and Denizli) produced 98% of geothermal electricity in 2022, while six provinces generated 48% of the national biomass electricity.

APA

Yıldırım, A. (2023). The south can unlock Türkiye’s solar ambitions. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/The-south-can-unlock-Turkiyes-solar-ambitions-1.pdf

Chicago

Yıldırım, Azem. The south can unlock Türkiye’s solar ambitions. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/The-south-can-unlock-Turkiyes-solar-ambitions-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yıldırım |first1=Azem |title=The south can unlock Türkiye’s solar ambitions |publisher=Ember |date=5 April 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/The-south-can-unlock-Turkiyes-solar-ambitions-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yldrm2023south, author = {Yıldırım, Azem}, title = {{The south can unlock Türkiye’s solar ambitions}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/The-south-can-unlock-Turkiyes-solar-ambitions-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }