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By News Center

Energy imports, which are the largest item in the current account deficit, are decreasing every year. In recent years, thanks to investments in green resources such as wind, solar, geothermal and dams, external dependency has been significantly reduced. In addition to natural gas and oil discoveries, global energy lines also play an important role in this independence adventure. One of the areas that strengthen Türkiye's local energy initiative stands out as clean resources. Thanks to this, the share of renewable energy in Türkiye's total installed capacity has reached approximately 55 percent by 2024.

Wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal energy investments played a leading role in this breakthrough. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, 2024 was a record year for solar and wind. The new installation target of 5,000 megawatts for solar and wind was exceeded and approached 6,000 megawatts. Thanks to this, Turkiye reduced its energy import bill by billions of dollars. Because; every 1,000 megawatt new installation prevents the import of 2.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This ensures that resources worth 800 million and 1 billion dollars remain in Türkiye.

Last year, Turkiye managed to add 3,600 megawatts to solar energy and 700 megawatts to wind energy. Again, as of last month, installed solar power reached 20,378 megawatts. Wind energy capacity also reached 13,044 megawatts. Türkiye's total renewable energy installed power was calculated as 68,480 megawatts. In addition, Turkiye completed the YEKA competitions, which paved the way for large-scale investments in both wind and solar, in recent months. While a 1,200-megawatt YEKA competition is being organized in wind, according to calculations, an investment of 1.2 billion dollars will be made for this capacity.

Again, thanks to the 800 megawatt YEKA competition held at the beginning of this year, an investment of 600 million dollars is expected. In addition, Turkiye has previously set its target for large-scale investments with a target of at least 2,000 megawatt YEKA projects each year. The YEKA projects put into operation this year offer advantages such as foreign exchange-based pricing, minimum locality requirement and international arbitration opportunities. In addition, these projects will be exempt from the costs of the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ).

According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), global renewable energy capacity increased by 58.1 percent between 2020 and 2024, reaching 4,448 gigawatts. Solar and wind power plants led this increase. The largest increase was seen in solar power plants (SPP) during the 2020-2024 period. Global SPP installed capacity increased by 157.6 percent, reaching 1,865 gigawatts. Turkiye has exceeded the world average in terms of its share of renewable energy. Renewable energy capacity in the country increased by 40.8 percent between 2020 and 2024. Türkiye’s solar energy capacity increased by 198.2 percent.