Power generation in Turkey: 2021 saw an increase in share of fossil fuels

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The data of the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ) have shown that the gross power generation of Turkey increased by 8 percent in 2021 when compared to the previous year. Last year, the power generation in the country stood at 331 billion kilowatt hour.

According to the TEİAŞ data, 32.71 percent of this power was generated from natural gas cycle plants while 31.43 percent stemmed from coal-fired thermal power plants. That being the case, the share of fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) in power generation topped 64 percent.

This rate was 58 percent in 2020.

Drought

Having affected almost the entire country last year, drought affected hydroelectric power plants the most.

In 2020, hydroelectric power plants accounted for 25 percent of power generation in Turkey; in 2021, this rate barely neared 17 percent.

Coal-fired power plants

In coal-fired power generation, the share of coal-fired power plants dropped in 2021 while that of the local lignite-fired power plants saw an increase.

In spite of this, the share of coal-fired power plants dropped by 3 percentage points to 31.4 percent in Turkey last year.

Share of solar, wind on the increase

The share of solar, wind and geothermal power generation increased by 10 billion kilowatt hour in a year and reached 16.6 percent.

While the share of renewable energy sources, including hydroelectric power, was around 40 percent in 2021, it dropped to 33 percent in 2020.

Gürbüz: Not enough for net zero

Commenting on the 2021 data of TEİAŞ, Özgür Gürbüz, a member of the Ecosphere Association Executive Board, has welcomed the increasing share of solar and wind energy in power generation in Turkey, noting that fossil fuels, especially coal, should be omitted from power generation to a considerable extent so that the "net zero emission" target can be reached.

Reaching net zero emissions means removing an equal amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as we release into it. (TP/SD)