Wind and solar energy firmly surpassed domestic coal in Türkiye's electricity generation in 2024, according to a report by an energy-focused think tank on Thursday, evaluating the trends in the renewables market in the country.
The fourth Türkiye Electricity Review 2025 report by London-based Ember reveals that wind and solar power generated 62 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024, significantly outpacing domestic coal, which produced 47 TWh.
This is the second year renewables outpaced domestic coal, the report said.
Wind and solar power beat domestic coal's 2019 record of 53 terawatt-hours, indicating that domestic coal has been permanently dethroned, according to the report.
Renewables now consistently lead power generation in Türkiye.
Türkiye's solar power sector experienced unprecedented growth in 2024, expanding by 39% year-on-year, the report showed.
The additional 7.3 TWh in 2024 alone almost matched Türkiye's total level of solar power in 2018 (7.8 TWh), Ember said.
According to Ember, this surge was driven by a sharp rise in solar installations, marking 2024 as another milestone year for Türkiye's renewable energy sector.
By the end of the year, solar capacity had reached 19.8 gigawatts (GW), nearly doubling from 10.9 GW in 2022.
Yet, despite Türkiye's record surge in solar power generation, increasing electricity demand has limited solar energy's share in overall electricity production. Solar's share of electricity generation rose from 5.7% in 2023 to 7.5% in 2024.
Accordingly, wind and solar now provide 18% of Türkiye's electricity.
In contrast, southern European countries with similar solar potential – such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece – generate between 14% and 22% of their electricity from solar power.
Additionally, Poland, which surpassed Türkiye last year in solar power's share of electricity generation, saw its solar contribution rise to 9%, further widening the gap between the two countries.
At the same time, the report said that hydropower accounted for 22% of Türkiye's total electricity generation last year.
In 2024, hydropower plants produced 17% more electricity compared to 2023.
This increase came despite the worst drought conditions during the spring months when hydropower production typically peaks.
However, this trend varied across different types of hydropower plants.
While river-type hydropower production decreased under drought conditions, reservoir-based hydropower production increased due to its ability to store water.
The share of fossil fuels in Türkiye's electricity generation fell to its lowest level in 31 years, despite a rise in coal power production, the report revealed.
Coal's share in the electricity mix slightly decreased from 36.9% to 35.6% in 2024, even with a 4 TWh increase in coal-generated electricity.
In contrast, natural gas generation fell by 3 TWh, or 4%, contributing to a reduction in the overall fossil fuel share of power generation to 55%.
This marks the lowest level since 1993. Türkiye relies on imports for 61% of its coal power and 96% of its gas.
The latest targets set a goal to increase wind and solar energy capacity significantly, from 32 GW in 2024 to 120 GW by 2035, with an interim target of 51 GW by 2030.
Türkiye's 2035 capacity targets announced at COP29 aim to quadruple the country's current wind and solar capacity.
If achieved, the targets could reduce fossil fuel power to below 20% by 2035, while wind and solar could rise to 49%.
However, to meet those goals, wind and solar need to outpace demand. Demand increased by 42 TWh in the last five years, compared to 31 TWh of additional wind and solar. The remaining rise in demand was met by imported coal and gas.
Ufuk Alparslan, regional lead for Türkiye and Caucasus at Ember, said that wind and solar permanently overtaking electricity from domestic coal marks a huge moment for Türkiye, highlighting that these sources are now a key part of the country's energy security.
"Under ambitious targets in place for 2035, wind and solar could grow to provide half of Türkiye's power," Alparslan said.
"However, wind and solar still need to grow faster to both meet rising electricity demand and displace fossil fuel imports," he added.
Alparslan emphasized that the focus should now be on removing barriers to growth in order to quickly scale up domestic renewable sources.
Similarly, the head of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA) said earlier on Wednesday that Türkiye's wind energy sector, valued at about $20 billion in energy and $4 billion in industry, is expected to continue growing steadily.
Ibrahim Erden told Anadolu Agency (AA) during the WindEurope 2025 Wind Energy Annual Event that the country's installed capacity is expected to increase by more than 1,500 megawatts (MW) in the coming years.
Türkiye currently stands third in Europe in terms of installed capacity growth, he said.
"I foresee that we will not fall below this capacity with new installations, and the sector will not lose momentum," he said, adding that by the end of 2025, the country is expected to exceed 2,000 MW.
Erden emphasized the importance of balancing domestic wind energy manufacturing with global equipment supply while increasing capacity in Türkiye.
"Strengthening domestic employment and engineering is one of our goals. Authorities aim to reduce the project permitting period from four years to two," he said.
"The faster legislative changes are implemented to shorten permit processes in the wind energy sector, the more attractive the country will become for investment," he added, noting that the industry will benefit as a result.
