Hydroelectric power plant (HPP) operators in Türkiye are raising the alarm over declining rainfall, which they say is cutting into electricity generation and revenues, while urging policymakers to adopt a set of measures to help offset the shortfall.
The Hydroelectric Power Plants Industry Businessmen Association (HESIAD), which represents private-sector investors, said changing rainfall patterns were significantly reducing the inflow of water into dam reservoirs.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, HESIAD Chair Elvan Tuğsuz Güven noted that precipitation dropped by around 30% between January and August compared with last year. The decline, she said, was directly mirrored in lower power generation.
"As electricity producers most affected by climate change, we want to compensate for the decline in output caused by dwindling water supplies," Tuğsuz Güven said. "Climate change has pushed us into a structural shift. Whereas we once had seven-year rainfall cycles, these have now stretched beyond 10 years."
She warned that the changing rainfall regime threatens both revenues and the repayment of loans that finance hydropower investments. To address these risks, HESIAD has tabled a series of policy proposals, which Tuğsuz Güven described as "lifelines to help weather a difficult period."
Among the recommendations are allowing hydroelectric power plants to supplement their electricity generation capacity with newly established solar or wind power plants, centrally planning the use of water in dam reservoirs and applying a minimum purchase price for electricity generated by HPPs during certain periods of the year.
Leading the list of proposals is allowing the establishment of integrated hybrid power plants with hydroelectric facilities that already have the technical infrastructure in place but are producing below planned levels due to drought.
This would enable hydroelectric power plants, which primarily generate electricity during the rainy spring and autumn seasons, to produce electricity year-round by integrating complementary solar and wind power facilities.
The association also called for measuring both the accumulated and used water volumes in dams to ensure fair usage, and proposed establishing a system that prioritizes the allocation of stored water first for drinking and agricultural irrigation, followed by electricity generation in a planned manner.
Lastly, the association recommended setting a minimum purchase price for electricity generated by HPPs, particularly during the spring months when production is at its peak.
Tuğsuz Güven also said revising system usage fees so they are charged based on actual electricity generated rather than installed capacity would ease the financial burden on operators.
Hydropower accounts for around 32,000 megawatts of Türkiye's total installed capacity of roughly 120,000 MW. About three-quarters of this comes from dam-based plants, with the remainder generated by river-run facilities.
Unlike other renewables such as solar and wind, hydropower plants can be switched on at virtually any time, often within minutes, making them critical for stabilizing the grid and balancing supply and demand.
