Solar power in Turkey

rdf:langString Solar power in Turkey

rdf:langString The climate of Turkey is very suitable for solar energy as solar potential is very high, especially in the South Eastern Anatolia and Mediterranean regions. Solar is a growing part of renewable energy in the country, with solar panels generating almost 8 gigawatts (GW), or about 4%, of the country's electricity. Although similarly sunny, by 2021 Turkey had installed far less solar power than Spain. Production could increase far more quickly if subsidies for coal were abolished and the auction system was improved. Every gigawatt of solar power installed would save over US$100 million on gas import costs, and more of the country's electricity might be exported. Solar thermal is also important. Tenders for new solar power are mostly part of hybrid power plants. Building new solar power plants is cheaper than running those existing coal plants which depend on imports. However, think tank Ember has listed several obstacles to building utility-scale solar plants; such as a lack of new capacity for solar power at transformers, a 50 MW cap for any single solar power plant's installed capacity, and large consumers not allowed to sign long-term power purchase agreements for new solar installations.