Türkiye has managed to produce a record amount of electricity from wind and solar energy in July, the country’s energy and natural resources minister said Wednesday, as the country pushes on with efforts to make the most of renewables.
Türkiye is still highly dependent on imports to cover its energy needs, which leaves it vulnerable to rising costs that skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
To boost its renewable energy production, it launched large-scale projects and began solar and wind power station tenders.
Renewables accounted for more than 95% of new capacity increases in the country last year. By the end of March this year, the total installed electricity capacity reached over 100 gigawatts, with more than half from renewables, including hydro, wind, solar and geothermal.
In a first, electricity produced from solar and wind energy accounted for 21.6% of the overall power output in July, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez wrote on Twitter.
"July was the month of renewable records," Dönmez said, stressing that record 2.07 billion kilowatt-hours and 4.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity were produced from solar and wind energy, respectively.
"In July, the amount of electricity generated from wind and solar accounted for 21.6% of the total production for the first time," he noted.
A joint report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in June suggested that Türkiye could reap huge economic benefits in shifting new investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
The country could increase its gross domestic product by as much as $8 billion per year, create more than 300,000 new jobs by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% compared to the 2019 level – all by investing in renewable energy rather than continuing to rely on fossil fuels, the report said.
Last year, 45% of the gas used in the country came from Russia and the rest from Iran and Azerbaijan.
Türkiye’s annual gas consumption has risen from 48 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2020 to a record 60 bcm in 2021 and is expected to reach 62 bcm to 63 bcm this year, according to official figures.