Turkey’s wind capacity of more than 16 gigawatts could save the country about $4bn (£3bn) a year in natural gas imports at current energy prices, the head of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TUREB) has said.
Ibrahim Erden, speaking on Anadolu Agency’s Energy Terminal programme, said every 1,000 megawatts of wind capacity installed in Turkey cut gas imports by about $250m a year on the same basis.
He said Turkey had met more than 40 per cent of its electricity generation from renewable sources in recent years, and that the share had exceeded 60 per cent in the first eight months of this year.
Mr Erden said the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent conflicts in the Middle East had moved wind power’s importance towards security of supply, as it did not depend on imports, critical transit routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, or embargoes.
He said: “Turkey, made up of two peninsulas surrounded by sea on three sides, accelerated its steps to harness its high wind energy potential especially from 2009-2010. It is continuing its investments in this area without slowing down.”
Of 165,000 megawatts of wind capacity added globally last year, 2,000 megawatts were installed in Turkey, he said. That was about 1.2 per cent of global installations, above Turkey’s roughly 1 per cent share of the world economy.
Onshore wind capacity reached 15,900 megawatts as of the end of October, out of Turkey’s total installed power of 126,000 megawatts. Wind’s share of electricity generation in August 2026 was about 13 per cent.
“Considering that this share was very limited 20 years ago, wind energy is making an important contribution to Turkey’s electricity supply,” he said.
Mr Erden said: “The longer-term expectation is that the import bill will fall as domestic gas production rises and renewable capacity expands.”
He said Turkey’s industrial base, notably in the automotive sector, had allowed a significant manufacturing infrastructure to develop for wind power. Helped by support for locally made components since 2009-2010, an industrial cluster had formed stretching from Izmir through Balikesir, Bursa and Yalova to Istanbul.
Turkey has become an important link in the supply chains of global manufacturers, earning $2bn-$2.5bn a year from exports of wind turbines, components and raw materials, he said.
