The installed capacity of hydropower in Turkey continues to grow despite lower output amid severe droughts that have been drying up rivers and reservoirs.
The production from hydropower plants has fallen to 20.1% in overall electricity generation from January through July of this year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) Wednesday.
By the end of July, 735 hydropower plants were generating electricity in Turkey.
The share of these plants in the total electricity generation of 188.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) stood at 20.1%, or 37.9 billion kWh, during the seven-month period.
Hydropower plants saw a dramatic drop in output to water shortages, which first emerged in the last quarter of 2020.
The share of one of the leading forms of existing clean power in electricity generation during the January-July period of 2020 hit 31.6%, generating 53.8 billion kWh of electricity out of the total of 170.4 billion kWh.
At the end of July this year, Turkey's hydropower capacity reached 31,436 megawatts (MW), accounting for 32% of the country's total installed power capacity of 98,264 MW.
Hydropower constituted 60% of the total installed renewable capacity, which stood at 52,000 MW.
The country’s first hydropower plant, the Tarsus plant in the Mersin province, began operations in 1902 with a capacity of 60 kilowatts. This increased to 18 MW in 1950, and up to 412 MW in 1960.
The nation's capacity accelerated especially after the year 2000. It reached 13,063 MW by the end of 2006 and 23,643 MW in 2014, relative to 6,764 MW in 1990.
By the end of last year, this expanded further to 30,984 MW.
According to the International Hydropower Association (IHA), Turkey added 2,500 MW of hydropower capacity in 2020, marking the second-highest after China.
International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Turkey's hydropower capacity could increase to 34,000 MW by 2023.
Eastern cities top list
The southeastern province of Şanlıurfa led in hydropower capacity with 3,128 MW.
Elaziğ in the east followed with 2,445 MW, while Diyarbakır and Adana trailed behind with 2,251 and 1,905 MW of hydropower capacity, respectively.
The Artvin province in the Black Sea region ranked fifth with 1,815 MW followed by Samsun with 1,372.
Bingöl also made a sizable contribution of 1,316 MW, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin and Giresun also supplied 1,305, 1,213 and 947 MW of installed capacity, respectively.
The State Electricity Generation Company (EÜAŞ) reported the highest hydropower capacity of 13,993 MW. As for the private sector, Cengiz Holding led with 1,443 MW followed by Enerjisa Üretim with 1,350 and Limak Enerji with 1,137.
Aydem Energy ranks fifth with 852 MW.
Among top 10 nations
According to IHA data, Turkey is currently among the top 10 countries with the highest hydropower capacity.
China, out of 1,330 gigawatts (GW) of global hydropower capacity, accounted for 370,000 MW, ranking the first worldwide.
Brazil and the U.S. rank second and third with 103,000 and 102,000 MW. Canada follows with 82,000 MW of installed hydropower capacity.
By the end of 2020, India had 50,500 MW and Japan and Russia each had 49,900.
Norway's hydropower capacity reached 33,000 MW while Turkey's capacity stood at 30,984 at the end of last year. France followed with 25,500 MW.