Türkiye’s solar energy capacity is projected to reach 52.9 gigawatts with an increase of approximately 500% by 2035, and it will be the source with the highest share in total installed power capacity.
The projection was included in the National Energy Plan, which was prepared on the basis of the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry’s target of achieving net zero emissions in 2053, and includes the steps to be taken until 2035.
According to the plan, Türkiye’s primary energy consumption, which is 147.2 million tons of oil equivalent in 2020, is estimated to reach 205.3 million tons of oil equivalent by 2035.
The country’s electricity consumption, which increased by 4.4% annually in the 2000-2020 period, is expected to increase by 3.5% annually until 2035, reaching 510.5 terawatt hours. It is calculated that the share of electrical energy in the final energy consumption, which was 21.8% in 2020, will reach 24.9% in 2035.
Türkiye’s electricity installed power, which was 95.9 gigawatts at the end of 2020, is expected to reach 189.7 gigawatts in 2035, and the share of renewable energy sources in total installed power is expected to increase from 52% in 2020 to 64.7% in 2035.
Renewable energy sources account for 74.3% of the new electricity capacity of 96.9 gigawatts, which must be commissioned until this period.
The largest capacity increase among renewable energy sources is aimed at solar energy.
If solar energy reaches a capacity of 52.9 gigawatts by 2035, as projected, it will be the source with the highest share in Türkiye’s total electricity installed power.
In wind energy, the installed power, which was 8.8 gigawatts in 2020, is expected to reach 29.6 gigawatts in 2035. The targeted capacity increase in wind energy stands out as 160% when the 11.36 gigawatt capacity reached as of November 2022 is taken into account.
Nuclear energy
Following the commissioning of the first nuclear reactor this year at Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Türkiye’s first NPP, it is planned to generate 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear installed power by 2025, and this capacity to reach 7.2 gigawatts in 2035. Akkuyu NPP will consist of four reactors, each of which will be 1.2 gigawatts.
The installed capacity is expected to increase from 31 gigawatts in 2020 to 35.1 gigawatts in 2035 in hydroelectric power plants, 35.5 gigawatts in electricity generation from natural gas and 24.3 gigawatts in coal power plants.
In case of realization of these capacity increases, the share of thermal power plants, which cover production from coal and natural gas in Türkiye’s electricity production, will be reduced from 57.6% in 2020 to 34.2% in 2035.
While the share of solar energy reaches 16.5%, the share of wind energy reaches 17.7% and nuclear energy reaches 11.1%, the share of hydroelectricity falls to 17.3%. Other sources, including geothermal and biomass, will meet the remaining production.
Within the scope of the targets to reach net zero emissions, it is predicted that the share of fossil fuels in Türkiye’s primary energy consumption will decrease from 83.3% in 2020 to 20.8% in 2053. The share of coal in this total is 3.6%, the share of …….