Breadcrumbs
Hybrid plants push solar capacity past wind in Türkiye
With 510 MW already installed, hybrid power plants will play an important role in achieving Türkiye’s solar targets.
Available in: Türkçe
In addition to hybrid solar capacity not being included in official capacity statistics, neither the National Energy Plan nor the capacity projections from the transmission system operator, TEİAŞ, mention the role of hybrid plants in planned solar capacities. In fact, the 1 GW of capacity announced to be allocated in 2021 by prioritising hybrid power plants was determined based on the remaining capacity from cancelled wind projects, not on solar capacity planning. There is a need for a more transparent capacity allocation process and comprehensive planning that includes floating solar power and anticipates hybrid power plant installations.
The regulatory amendment in October 2023 is a positive development towards making renewable energy targets more concrete. This amendment requires specifying solar and wind capacities separately at the regional level, in capacity projections starting from April 2024. An energy strategy that also considers hybrid power plants will facilitate Türkiye’s goal to reach its target of 53 GW of solar capacity by 2035.
Supporting Material
Methodology
Hybrid solar capacity
Hybrid solar capacity is taken from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority’s (EMRA) Electricity Market Generation Licences database. The ‘Capacity in Operation’ data published under facility information is used for installed capacity, while the difference between ‘Capacity in Operation’ and ‘Installed Capacity’ data is used for project pipeline analysis. Hybrid power plant capacity data referenced in this report is in MWm.
Hybrid solar generation potential estimate
To calculate the generation potential, the installed capacity of hybrid solar by province was calculated and multiplied by the province-level solar potential data compiled by Ember from Solargis data.
Floating solar capacity potential of Atatürk, Karakaya, Keban, Ilısu and Birecik HEPPs
Data was provided by Muhammed İmran Kulat from the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works, from his article “A sound potential against energy dependency and climate change challenges: Floating photovoltaics on water reservoirs of Turkey” The reported floating solar capacity potentials for each HPP, assuming 10% of the reservoirs are covered by panels, are as follows: Atatürk (7.7 GW), Karakaya (2.2 GW), Keban (4.4 GW), Ilısu (2.7 GW) and Birecik (400 MW).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Ufuk Alparslan for contributing to the content of the text, Muhammed İmran Kulat for providing the floating solar capacity potential data, Reynaldo Dizon for reviewing the data visualisations, Eva Mbengue and Rosamond Hutt for reviewing the English translation of the text.
Cover photoRural Solar panels and wind turbines via Roy Conchie / Alamy Stock Photo
Access to government data via the hyperlinks may be restricted outside Türkiye.
This analysis examines the installed capacity, project pipeline and allocated grid capacity of hybrid solar power plants in Türkiye at the end of 2023.
Explore monthly hybrid solar capacity data in our Türkiye electricity data tool.
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