Renewable sources accounted for almost the whole of the new power capacity Türkiye installed throughout 2023, a senior official said Monday, as part of the country's transition efforts to address climate change and secure a cleaner energy future.
"2023 was the year of renewables," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said. "We sourced 99.5% of the 2,858 megawatts of increased installed capacity from renewable sources last year."
This has elevated the nation's total renewable energy installed capacity to 59,236 megawatts, Bayraktar said in a statement.
Heavily dependent on imports for energy needs, Türkiye has, over the past years, managed to increase overall power generation while simultaneously cutting coal generation thanks to an aggressive rise in clean power deployment from wind, solar, geothermal and hydro installations.
It also injected vast capital to expand and strengthen its infrastructure and energy networks.
Bayraktar stressed the pivotal role of clean energy sources for the country with an ambitious plan to triple its renewable capacity by 2053 as it strives to become a carbon-neutral economy.
The minister said the nation's electricity production reached 326.3 terawatts in 2023, underscoring the substantial contribution of renewables.
"The share of renewable sources in production reached 42%," said Bayraktar.
"In contrast, their share in total installed capacity was realized as 56%."
That rate makes Türkiye fifth in Europe and 12th in the world.
"Our goal is to increase the share of renewables in installed capacity to 65% and in production to 55% by 2035," Bayraktar said.
Türkiye ranks fourth globally and first in Europe in terms of installed geothermal capacity.
It is second in Europe and ninth in the world regarding hydroelectric power plants' installed capacity. In the coming years, it plans to add about 5,000 megawatts of offshore wind power to its energy portfolio.
Ankara ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement in 2021 and aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2053.
Earlier this month, Türkiye announced plans for about $20 billion of energy efficiency investment by 2030 through collaboration between the public and private sectors, seeking to achieve billions of dollars in energy savings and curb carbon dioxide emissions.
Bayraktar said this would enable the country to save $46 billion worth of energy by 2040.
