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Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have signed a $2 billion intergovernmental agreement to construct solar power plants with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts in Türkiye, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Tuesday.
The announcement came after a meeting in Riyadh with his Saudi counterpart, Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, held as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to Saudi Arabia and interdelegation talks between the two countries.
Bayraktar stated that the agreement is part of a broader plan to develop 5,000 MW in combined solar and wind capacity. The projects will be "fully financed through external funding," with additional credit to be provided by international financial institutions.
The project’s first phase will include solar power plants with a combined capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW), to be built in the provinces of Sivas and Karaman in central Anatolia. These facilities are expected to supply electricity to approximately 2.1 million households.
The electricity generated will be sold to the Turkish grid for 25 years at fixed rates: €1.995 ($2.36) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the Karaman plant and €2.3415 per kWh for the Sivas facility.
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first phase scheduled for completion by the end of that year. Full project delivery is targeted for 2028 and 2029.
"This is the lowest electricity price we’ve seen in Türkiye so far," Bayraktar said. "We aim to offer this benefit to our citizens."
Bayraktar stressed that such initiatives are critical to achieving Türkiye’s 2035 renewable energy goal of reaching 120,000 megawatts of installed solar and wind capacity, adding, "To reach that target, we need to add 8,000 to 10,000 megawatts of new capacity each year."
By the end of December, Türkiye’s total installed electricity capacity had climbed to 122,519 megawatts, with solar and wind making up 39,883 megawatts, or about 32.6% of the mix.
Bayraktar also revealed ongoing discussions about longer-term cooperation in power transmission.
"We have discussed a possible interconnection and electricity transmission line from Saudi Arabia to Türkiye. This is a project that could impact the entire region," he added.
Responding to a question about upcoming talks in Egypt, Bayraktar stated that future cooperation would focus on natural gas.
"We are working on projects for exploration, trading of natural gas, and even utilizing idle regasification ships during the summer months," he concluded.
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