Türkiye achieved its strongest performance in wind energy in the past 15 years with nearly 2,000 megawatts (MW) of new installations last year, according to Ibrahim Erden, president of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB), on Monday.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), on the sidelines of the 16th General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Erden said that Türkiye's installed electrical capacity in wind power has exceeded 14,700 MW, while its mechanical installed capacity has surpassed 15,000 MW.
Noting that last year was recorded as a year of preparation in terms of permitting processes and new projects in wind energy investments, he said: "With approximately 2,000 MW of installations in a single year, the strongest performance of the last 15 years was achieved."
"We foresee 2026 as the year of commissioning wind power plants, bringing the first storage-integrated facilities into operation, and seeing tangible results in industry," he added.
Erden explained that there are financing-related challenges in renewable energy projects worldwide, but suggested that in Türkiye, efforts are being made to ensure the predictability of investments through the targets set and the projects completed.
He also pointed out that until the 2010s, renewable energy investments were seen as "alternative energy" and sometimes even as a form of social responsibility, but today clean energy is accepted as an international reality through governments' energy and climate change policies.
"In the renewable energy sector, sustainability and predictability in financing are more important than ever," he said.
"A long-term, transparent, and trustworthy structure is needed to facilitate easier access to financing for projects. The perspective of governments toward renewable energy will be decisive in this process, and a gradual transformation in this direction is taking place worldwide," he commented.
Moreover, Erden noted that financing conditions in Türkiye are progressing in parallel with global trends.
Stating that Türkiye has taken important steps to provide the long-needed predictability in renewable energy, he went on to say that "the clear targets Türkiye has set for 2035 also represent an intermediate stage on the path toward the 2053 goals."
He concluded by saying that in the coming years, more concrete steps toward 2053 are expected to be announced.
