Important details of the Turkish wind power industry
While the world is trying to switch to clean energy resources lately, Turkey has been producing it for long. The country has a high potential for wind energy generation in regions having 50 m altitude. So, Marmara, Aegean, and the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey serve to be perfect places for effective wind energy generation. The increasing wind energy potential of Turkey makes it one of the 10 large global markets. Thus, the Turkish wind power industry tends to have a promising future. So now, let’s take an insight into the important details of Turkey’s growing wind power industry.
What makes Turkey more wind power efficient?
According to Turkey’s wind atlas published by the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Agency, the country has the greatest potential for high wind speeds at 50 m altitude. Also, it has an enormous wind capacity. Thus, these reasons make the 50 m elevated regions of Turkey highly wind power efficient. Also, the high wind potential of the area is suitable enough for turbine set-up. Theoretically, Turkey possesses a wind potential of 166 TWh per annum. Nevertheless, turbines are mainly established at places having 4-5 m/s of average annual wind speed. Thus, they generate more than 500 W/m2 of yearly wind energy.
Growth of the wind energy industry in Turkey
In 1998, the ARES wind farm began wind energy production in Turkey. The farm had 12×600 kW wind turbines. Later, in 2012, the largest ever wind energy power plant in Turkey got constructed in Manisa-Soma. It had a capacity of 140.1 MW. However, Turkey’s installed wind energy capacity is expected to grow by 500-1000 MW every year. In 2018, the country generated up to 20 TWh of energy. It offered 7% of the total electricity in Turkey. By the end of 2018, Turkey reached its total installed capacity of 7 GW. Thus, owing to the prospering wind power industry, the Energy Ministry planned to have another installation of 10 GW in 2020. The Turkish wind energy industry also hopes to install up to 20 GW of wind energy capacity by 2023. It will help the country to generate at least 30% of electricity from its renewable resources. Thus, the dynamic growth of the wind power sector made Turkey the 5th biggest equipment producer in Europe in 2020. Currently, Turkey’s installed wind power capacity is about 14% of the entire economic wind potential. It is expected to reach 10,000 MW by the end of the year, which would mark a massive increase of 1200 MW from the previous years. Presently, wind energy tends to meet 8.5% of the total electricity production in Turkey.
What are the leading and active wind energy stations in Turkey?
So, here are a few significant wind power stations of Turkey. Have a look!
- Yuntdag wind farm – Located 60 km to the north of Izmir
- Süloglu wind power plant – Located in the city of Edirne, lying between Hacılar, Küçüköğünlü, and Vaysal vilages of Turkey
- Akbük Wind Farm – Located in the Aydýn Province of the Didim District of Turkey
- Kayaduzu wind power plant – Located nearby Kayaduzu town in the Merzifon District of the Amasya Province in Turkey
Conclusion
Thus, it is evident that the wind energy generation potential in Turkey is pretty high. Besides, the advent of numerous wind energy production companies is making the industry more progressive. So, with the increasing wind energy production, Turkey aims to supply a significant percentage of the country’s total energy needs.