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Türkiye will hold tenders for 2,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity in November and December, including 1,150 MW of wind and 850 MW of solar power, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Friday at the 14th Turkish Wind Energy Congress in Izmir.
The new Renewable Energy Resource Areas (YEKA) tenders represent Türkiye's continued push to expand its clean energy portfolio, which has grown from near zero in 2002 to 37,118 MW of combined wind and solar capacity today.
"In 2002, our installed capacity in wind and solar was almost close to zero. Today, our installed capacity in wind and solar has reached a total of 37,118 megawatts," Bayraktar said at the congress organized by the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA) under the theme "Our direction in energy is common, our goal is a clean future."
Türkiye's total installed electricity capacity exceeded 120,000 MW by the end of July, with 73,477 MW, or 61%, coming from renewable energy sources. Wind and solar now account for 31% of total installed capacity.
Bayraktar emphasized that renewable energy plays a strategic role in reducing Türkiye's energy dependence, which costs the country between $60 billion-$90 billion annually in energy imports.
"Renewable energy sources both help meet our increasing energy demand and reduce our annual energy bill that we pay abroad, which varies between $60 billion-90 billion," the minister stated.
The country added 6,818 MW of capacity with a total investment value of approximately $5 billion, preventing 12.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
"If we had met the electricity produced here from natural gas, we would have imported $1.3 billion worth of natural gas," Bayraktar noted.
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The minister provided specific information about the 2025 YEKA tenders:
Wind Energy (YEKA RES):
Solar Energy (YEKA GES):
Bayraktar also announced Türkiye's first floating solar power tender, following legal changes allowing renewable energy installations on seas, dam lakes, artificial lakes, and natural lakes.
"We will hold our tender for the first floating solar power plant in this context. We will allocate a capacity of 35 megawatts for the installation of floating solar panels in the Demirkopru HES reservoir area in Manisa," he said.
To support the renewable energy transformation, Türkiye also plans significant upgrades to its transmission infrastructure, requiring $28 billion in investment.
"We will strengthen our transmission infrastructure. We will build 14,700 kilometers of HVDC lines with 40 gigawatt capacity. We will build an additional 15,000 kilometers of lines for our AC network. We will increase our interconnection capacity to 6,750 megawatts in exports and 6,600 megawatts in imports," Bayraktar explained.
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