Turkey aims to increase the production of its domestic wind turbine parts through its 16 national producers, the country’s energy and natural resources minister said Wednesday.
The country already boasts a 65% domestic production rate employing approximately 15,000 people for the production of wind turbine parts, including rotor blades, turbine towers, fasteners and generator parts.
The country also exports wind energy equipment to 45 countries throughout six continents, Fatih Dönmez told a summit in the capital Ankara.
“About 10% of the country’s electricity needs are met by the wind energy sector with a total capacity of over 10,500 megawatts (MW),” Dönmez confirmed.
Currently, 63 power plants with an installed capacity of 1,585 megawatts are under construction.
Separately, Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB) Chairperson Ebru Arıcı said Turkey will add around 1,500 megawatts of wind energy power to the national grid next year.
Arıcı confirmed that Turkey has a project capacity of 1,400 MW in the permission stage.
Turkey’s current installed wind capacity reached over 10,580 MW as at the end of Dec. 7 with the addition of almost 3,000 MW of wind energy installation over the past two years.
This achievement was made despite supply chain disruptions in the energy sector resulting from the coronavirus pandemic that started at the beginning of January 2020.
Turkish exports of wind energy equipment have also continued to 44 countries although the pandemic heavily affected many sectors.
Turkey’s wind capacity and equipment production has grown to the extent that it now ranks as one of the 10 biggest markets globally.
Growth in this sector has already crowned Turkey as the fifth biggest equipment producer in Europe last year.
