Turkey acquires 53 new power stations in first quarter

ANKARA — In the first quarter of 2014, 53 new electricity power stations were put on line in Turkey according to officials from the country's energy ministry.

The 53 new stations have added 651 megawatts (MW) to Turkey's electricity production capacity, 70 percent of which is being produced by hyrdoelectric power plants and the remainder produced by wind (136 MW), coal (37 MW) and other renewables such as bio-gases, geothermals and waste heat recovery plants (7.5 MW).

Currently Turkey has 275 electricity power stations but at the end of 2013, the country had 222, according to the energy ministry.

However, in the first quarter of this year, the new stations capacity decreased by around 13 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.

In the first quarter of the 2013, despite having less power stations on line, Turkey's power stations' capacity was 736 MW, and with the addition of new power stations in the first quarter of 2014, the expected increase was hampered by investors hesitation in commiting to new energy projects prior to the 2014 local election results and the capacity dropped to 651 MW.

In March 2013, Turkey had around 57,000 MW of installed electricity and in March 2014, Turkey reached 64,000 MW level which is an increase of 12 percent of its capacity.

As a developing country, Turkey's electricity consumption is rising each year and consequently it has increasing energy needs. The country is now attempting to increase its installed electricity capacity to 100,000 MW by 2023.