Solar power in Turkey

The climate of Turkey and its geography are very suitable for solar energy,[1] and it is a growing part of renewable energy in the country, with almost 8 GW of solar panels generating about 4% of the country's electricity. Solar potential is very high in Turkey, especially in the South Eastern Anatolia and Mediterranean provinces.[2] Conditions for solar power generation are comparable to Spain. However, in 2020 Turkey ranked 8th in Europe for solar power.[3]: 49  It could increase far more quickly if subsidies for coal were abolished[4] and the auction system was improved.[5] Every gigawatt of solar power installed would save over US$100 million on gas import costs.[6]

Greenway in Mersin is the only solar power tower in the country

Peak daily generation in 2020 was over 1 TWh in September.[7] Bids for 1.5 GW are due in 2022.[8] According to modelling[9] by Carbon Tracker new solar power became cheaper than new coal power in 2020, and will become cheaper than existing coal plants in 2023.[10] According to think tank Ember building new solar and wind power in Turkey is cheaper than running existing coal plants which depend on imported coal.[11] But they say that there are obstacles to building utility scale solar plants such as: 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 being unable to sign long term power purchase agreements for new solar installations.[11]

Insolation
Solar potential is especially high in the south
Karabuk Solar Energy Farm
  • The annual average total insolation duration is 2741 hours (7.5 hours per day),[12] almost twice that of Germany but Germany has more solar PV.[13]
  • Average annual solar radiation is 1527 kW·h/(m2·yr) or 4.18 kW·h/(m2·d).[12]

IEA head Fatih Birol said that in 2021 less than 3% of potential was being used.[14]

Covering less than 5% of the land area of Turkey with solar panels would provide all the energy needed.[15]

Policies and laws

Systems producing up to 5-megawatt (MW) of power do not need a license from EMRA,[13] and if they were connected to the national grid before mid-2021 are eligible for payments of US$0.133 per kilowatt-hour for 10 years.[16] Systems producing over 5-megawatt (MW) of power must be licensed, but only if they feed into the grid.[13]

Since 2021 feed-in tariffs for new installations have been in lira (but are maximum about 5 US cents per kWh[17]) and set by the president,[18] but the 10-year period has been criticised as too short.[19] In 2022 there are applications for 2 GW of hybrid solar and wind.[20] In 2021 there are few renewable energy agricultural cooperatives - it has been suggested that new ones would be profitable if farmers had more loans and technical help to establish them.[21] According to thinktank Ember building new wind and solar power is cheaper than running existing coal plants which depend on imported coal.[11] But they say that there are obstacles to building utility scale solar, such as 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 being unable to sign long term power purchase agreements for new unlicensed solar installations.[11][13] Unlicensed plants can have monthly net metering.[13]

Economics

Auction prices in 2021 were competitive with or lower than average wholesale electricity prices over the previous five years, and commercial PV is also competitive; but macroeconomic challenges and exchange rate volatility were causing uncertainty.[22]: 63  Wind speed and rainfall can be low in summer thus reducing wind generation and hydroelectricity.[23] According to the Turkish Solar Energy Industry Association the industry provides jobs for 100,000 people.[24] As part of YEKA GES-4 which is planned to total 1000 MW in lots of 50 MW and 100 MW,[25] in April 2022 three lots of 100 MW were auctioned at prices around 400 lira per MWh,[26] around 25 euros at the exchange rate at that time.[27] The tender included a 60% foreign exchange weight clause, which partly protects against currency volatility,[27] and selling on the open market is also allowed.[25]

Heating and hot water

Sales of flat-plate collectors and vacuum tube hot water systems were similar in 2020.[28]: 139  Vacuum tubes are more efficient for households than flat plate.[29] Turkey is third in the world in solar water heating collector capacity after China and the US, with a capacity of about 20 GWth.[28]

The industry is well developed for hot water with high quality manufacturing and export capacity, but not so much for space heating, and is hampered by subsidies for coal heating.[4] A 2018 study found that solar water heating saved on average 13% energy and increased the value of properties.[30]

In 2021 the International Energy Agency said that the government should support solar water heating because "technology and infrastructure quality needs to improve significantly to maximise its potential".[22]

Photovoltaics
Electricity generation by solar is increasing

Photovoltaics (PV) growth was supported by the government during the 2010s.[22] Monthly average efficiencies are from 12 to 17% depending on tilt and climate type: and specific yield decreases with elevation.[31] In 2020 solar cell manufacturing started in Turkey.[32] Industry sometimes uses its own solar power for processes which need a lot of electricity, such as electrolysis.[33] As of 2020, unlike in the EU, obsolete solar panels are not classified as electronic waste and recycling criteria are not defined.[34] Solar PV has been suggested at public charging stations.[35]

Solar farms

The Karapınar solar power plant started generation in 2020 and is planned to reach 1.3 GW.[36][37] If a solar power plant is not cleaned for a year it can lose over 5% efficiency.[38] Environmental groups say that half of opencast mines for coal in Turkey could be converted to 13 GW of solar farms (some with battery storage) generating 19 TWh per year, as much of the electrical infrastructure is already in place for the 10 GW of the 22 adjacent power stations.[39] Aluminium producers favor solar as they use a lot of electricity for electrolysis.[40]

Rooftop

As of 2022 there is about 1 GW of rooftop solar,[41] and the limit for a household is 10 kW.[17] The government is aiming for 2 to 4 GW of rooftop solar by the early 2030s.[42] As of 2019, the payback period of rooftop solar with net metering for homeowners and businesses was estimated at 11 years; removal of VAT and the fixed government approval fee, and attaching borrowing for installation to the property's mortgage has been suggested to shorten this.[43] If total electricity generated by solar panels exceeds 50% of the capacity of the local distribution transformer no more will be approved in that area.[42] From 2023 new buildings larger than 5,000 square meters will have to generate at least five percent of their energy from renewables.[44] A 2021 study in Ankara found far more rooftop potential for public and commercial buildings than residential.[45] The study also suggested increasing technical potential by suitable roof design in new buildings.[45] Solar PV used with heat pumps may be able to make buildings zero energy in the Mediterranean Region.[46] Tosyalı aluminium producer claims to be installing the world's largest.[47]

Agriculture

Farmers are financially supported to install solar panels, for example to power irrigation pumps, and can sell some electricity via the grid.[48][49] Agrivoltaics has been suggested as suitable for wheat,[50] maize and some other shade-loving vegetables.[51] Hybrid solar and biogas has been suggested, for example on dairy farms.[52] Rainwater harvesting has been suggested.[38]

Concentrated Solar Power

It has been suggested that concentrated solar power (CSP) could be co-located with photovoltaics in the south-east.[53] The Greenway CSP Mersin Solar Tower Plant, constructed at Mersin by Greenway CSP, has an installed power of 5 MW.[54] A solar chimney has been suggested for Antalya Province.[55]

History

Solar water heating has been done for decades.[13] The first tender for solar electricity was in 2014.[13]

See also

Sources
  • "OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Turkey 2019". OECD. OECD Environmental Performance Reviews. February 2019. doi:10.1787/9789264309753-en. ISBN 9789264309746. S2CID 242969625.

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