Emrah Durusut

Potential and Viability of Wind Energy in Turkey: Barriers and Opportunities

Emrah Durusut

Potential and Viability of Wind Energy in Turkey: Barriers and Opportunities

As the electricity demand of Turkey increases, electricity generation becomes one of the most important problems of the country. Although Turkey is rich in renewable energy resources, 74% of the total electricity production is generated by fossil fuelled thermal power plants. Turkey’s wind energy potential atlas states that around 23,000 km2 of land has viable wind energy potential; however installed wind power capacity of the country is 1,329 MW, which contributes to only around 1.5% of total electricity generation of Turkey. In this study, city-based onshore wind energy potential of Turkey was calculated and compared with the current and future electricity consumption data of the country. Also, the economic viability of wind energy investment in Turkey and the new Feed-in-Tariff scheme, which was announced in December 2010, were analysed.

The annual mean wind speeds of all regions in Turkey were obtained from the Turkey’s wind energy potential atlas, which excludes the areas that are not available for wind energy investment. The annual wind energy potentials were calculated by combining the Rayleigh distribution function for each mean wind speed with the power output values of a 1 MW wind turbine. To investigate Turkey’s regional onshore wind energy potential compared to the country’s current and future electricity consumption, very detailed city by city, regional and countrywide analyses were conducted. The results were also compared with the electricity consumption data and future consumption predictions of Turkey.

Moreover, the effect of new Feed-in-Tariff scheme on the viability of wind energy projects in Turkey was examined by conducting economic analyses. The levelised costs of wind energy were calculated for different wind speeds and an NPV analysis was conducted by taking the new feed-in-tariff scheme into account. In addition, the additional support scheme for domestically manufactured equipment use was also analysed. Finally, the barriers and opportunities of the wind energy market in Turkey were listed, and the possible ways to overcome these barriers were discussed.