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ARZU YORKAN<br />
116<br />
is 12 th in the world for geothermal<br />
potential; 16th for wind capacity,<br />
and 27 th for solar (Energy Ministry<br />
2012). Hydropower is key among<br />
the renewable energy resources,<br />
currently supplying 25 per cent of<br />
Turkish electricity generation. The<br />
technical potential of Turkish hydropower<br />
is 216 billion KWh / year,<br />
and its economic potential is 140<br />
billion kWh / year – this economic<br />
ALTHOUGH TURKEY IS NOT A RICH COUNTRY<br />
IN TERMS OF FOSSIL FUELS, IT POSSESSES<br />
REMARKABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES.<br />
potential is equal to 16 per cent of<br />
Europe’s economic potential (YEGM<br />
2013). The installed capacity of hydropower<br />
has gradually been increasing;<br />
between 2002 and 2011<br />
Turkey has added approximately<br />
6000 MW of capacity (see Figure<br />
1). It is continuing to open new hydropower<br />
stations, and investment<br />
in this sector is higher than that of<br />
the other renewable sources since<br />
in technical terms it is much easier<br />
to interconnect with existing power<br />
grids. Hydropower is not a new<br />
source for Turkey; its use dates back<br />
to 1920s and 1930s, and it has since<br />
become a very important primary<br />
energy supply source for Turkish<br />
electricity generation. Although<br />
Turkey also has significant capacity<br />
in its non-traditional renewable<br />
sources (such as wind, geothermal<br />
and solar energy), it has not yet promoted<br />
their use to the same extent<br />
as hydropower.<br />
As for wind energy, Turkey enjoys<br />
a prime strategic location, surrounded<br />
on three sides by water. It<br />
has 3500 km of coastline; the northwest<br />
(Marmara Sea) and southwest<br />
(Aegean Sea) areas are particularly<br />
windy (see Figure 2). The country<br />
has 48.000 MW potential in wind<br />
energy (YEGM 2013), and has gradually<br />
begun to utilise this. In the<br />
1990s the installed capacity of wind<br />
energy in Turkey was below 9 MW;<br />
by July 2012 it had risen to 2041<br />
MW (TUREB 2012) (see Figure 3).<br />
In just a few months, it had jumped<br />
up to 2.106 MW (October statistics,<br />
Energy Ministry 2012). As for geothermal,<br />
Turkey’s location endows<br />
it with optimal geological conditions,<br />
placing Turkey 12th for geothermal<br />
capacity in the global terms. The current<br />
potential of Turkey is equal to<br />
Figure 1: Turkish Installed Capacity in Hydropower between 2000 and 2011 (MW)<br />
Source: YEGM (2013).
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