Turkey set a new daily record in hydroelectric power generation, hitting more than 366.7 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) Tuesday, according to Taner Ercömert, general manager of Limak Holding-Energy Generation Group.
Ercömert added that around 46 percent of Turkey's total power generation on April 16 came from hydroelectric power plants. "The total contribution of renewables in Turkey's daily electricity generation on the same day was more than 60 percent," he said.
Turkey, in an effort to economically maximize the use of domestic and renewable energy resources, is gradually increasing its power generation capacity from renewables.
While hydropower's share in electricity generation in April was about 40 percent in Turkey, it accounted for almost 32 percent of the country's national power generation capacity as of April 2019, according to Ercömert.
"This is a historic record, which means that this number is the highest daily hydroelectric power generation since the 1950s," he said.
"There is a 120 percent increase in water levels at reservoirs this month compared to April 2018, which helped increase the capacity of power generation from hydroelectric," he explained.
After hitting 31 percent of renewable electricity production in August 2018, Turkish authorities took concrete steps to revise its renewable target for 2023. Turkey aims to supply 65 percent of energy needs from domestic and renewable sources in 2023, according to the ministry.
Turkey aims to invest roughly $11 billion in energy efficiency over the next five years, cut its primary energy consumption by 14 percent and reduce 66 million tons of CO2 emissions.
Across Turkey, there are 641 registered hydroelectric power plants with an installed capacity of 28,353 megawatts (MW), corresponding to 32 percent of the country's total installed capacity.