Renewable energy generation
Renewable energy generation has grown significantly since 2000, increasing from 0.3 terawatt-hours in 2000 to a peak of 71.4 terawatt-hours in 2022. Meanwhile, renewable consumption echoed this trend, totaling 690 petajoules in 2022.A focus on wind turbine installations has led to wind energy generation in Turkey reaching over 35 terawatt-hours in 2022. This was an increase of 34.3 terawatt-hours compared to 2008. Similarly, Turkey expanded solar power use, especially in recent years when generation rose from 0.2 gigawatt-hours in 2015 to nearly 16 terawatt-hours in 2022. In the wake of COVID-19, fears have grown over future investments into wind and solar deployment potentially being delayed, with experts urging for governmental help in extending deadlines and improvements in network infrastructure.
Hydroelectricity - largest renewable source of electricity
As the most common renewable source in the country, hydropower alone accounts for nearly one fifth of Turkey’s energy production. In 2019, the hydoelectricity generation peaked at 89 terawatt-hours of electricity, whereas it decreased to 67.2 terawatt-hours in 2022.When it comes to bioenergy capacity, figures have grown over tenfold since 2008, reaching over 1.9 thousand megawatts as of 2022. In 2021, geothermal cumulative installed capacity amounted to roughly 1.7 gigawatts. Compared to other renewable energy sources, Turkey's geothermal and biomass sources were relatively minor contributors to energy generation.
