By Oguzhan Ozsoy
ANKARA
Turkey's solar energy potential is double that of current consumption electricy rates in the country according to Dr. Kemal Gani Bayraktar,Turkey’s Section Head of International Solar Energy Society (ISES) in Ankara.
Turkey's total energy including solar power, hydro power, solid fuel, etc. totals over 61 Gigawatt (GW) installed capacity and it aims to reach 100 GW by 2023 with the aim of utilizing 3 percent of this 100GW capacity through solar energy.
Bayraktar, speaking to AA, said that Turkey is a country which has a huge solar potential and he adds “Our country’s solar potential is about 380 billion kilowatt/hour(KW/h) per year, meanwhile Turkey consumes around 200 billion KW/h electricity per year.”
He also said regarding Turkey's current solar power, “Turkey has 20 MW (megawatt) installed capacity and it aims to reach 3000 MW by 2023. We could also reach 6000 MW levels if Turkey’s energy ministry takes the right steps and smooths the way for solar investors."
Germany number one in solar energy -
“Germany ranks first in the world, producing electricity fromsolar energy even though the country has a lower sunshine level than the Black Sea region which has the lowest sunshine level in Turkey,” said Bayraktar. He stated that Germany has 35 GW installed capacity in solar energy and Europe's installed capacity is 300 hundred times higher than Turkey.
Meanwhile, the United States is the second highest producer of solar energy in the world. The U.S. has around 30 GW installed capacity in solar according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
International Energy Agency estimates that solar energycould provide up to one-third of the world’s total energy demand after 2060.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
