Istanbul — Turkey will need $108 billion of public and private investment as it aims to quadruple its wind and solar energy power capacity to 120,000 MW by 2035, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday.
Speaking at an event to announce Turkey’s roadmap in the field of renewable energy, Bayraktar said this year’s first renewable energy resource area tender conditions will be announced next week.
The energy ministry is working on changes to current regulations for renewable energy investments and to encourage the private sector to participate more, Bayraktar said.
As part of a push to increase capacity, the ministry will focus on 34,000 MW of pre-license and permission applications for plants that have not yet been turned into investments.
“We need to accelerate and focus on the capacity that is in process of investment… We are aiming to decrease the period of time to obtain a permit to two years from four years,” Bayraktar said.
Out of total investments necessary to boost capacity, some $28 billion will be allocated to improve the transmission infrastructure, build transformers and install high voltage transmission grids across the country, Bayraktar also said.
Although Turkey’s wind and solar energy capacity grew sharply in recent years, a lengthy permission process and lack of financing have been the key issues of concern for energy sector investors.
Turkey will hold a tender to allocate 2,000 MW of wind and solar plants early next year, with a new scheme providing a price floor and long term electricity purchase guarantees, which will make it easier to finance investments, Bayraktar said.
Turkey, which has modest oil and natural gas resources, has been incentivising private sector investments in renewable power plants since 2005 to reduce its high import bill and insulate itself from geopolitical risks.
Solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass power plants that started operation after 2005 reached approximately 30,000 MW installed capacity, or 17.7% of total national installed capacity in the past 18 years, according to data.
While Turkey’s electricity consumption has tripled in 20 years, it is expected to increase even faster in the coming years due to the long-term energy transformation, which involves replacing fossil fuel energy with electricity.
Reporting by Can Sezer and Birsen Altayli; Editing by Daren Butler and Susan Fenton – Reuters
