The launching of 99 hydroelectric plants (HES) will be commissioned in a formal ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday, marking the completion of a TL 10 billion ($3.3 billion) project and generating enough energy to power a city of 2.5 million people. The plants will have a total installed power of 2,194 megawatts and produce 7.4 billion kilowatt hours of energy annually.

Artvin Dam HES, Bağıştaş I Dam HES, Kayabeyi Dam and Akıncı HES, Tepekışla Dam and HES Yamanlı II HES, Düzce Aksu HES and Doğançay HES built collaboratively by the public and private sector, are the hydroelectric plants that will be commissioned in a formal ceremony held at the Arena Sports Hall on Tuesday. These projects will contribute TL 1.1 billion to the economy, and are projected to generate 127 billion kwh of Turkey's technologically and economically ratable 180 billion kwh of hydroelectricity potential by the end of 2019.

In 2003, cooperative efforts were established between the private and public sectors in the hydroelectric industry. With the signing of the Water Usage Rights Agreement on June 26, 2003, the private sector became more involved in hydroelectricity production. While only 26 billion kwh of energy were produced in 2003, that number has increased to 91 billion kwh, a three-fold increase that only accounts for 50 percent of the total ratable hydroelectric potential in Turkey. In the last 13 years, 85 percent of all commissioned plants were completed by the private sector, producing enough energy to save the country TL 11 billion in natural gas exports.