12 February 2019•Update: 12 February 2019
By Gulsen Cagatay
ANKARA
Turkey invested $650 million to wind energy sector and added 457 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity in 2018, Turkish Wind Energy Association (TUREB) data showed on Tuesday.
According to Turkish Wind Energy Statistics Report 2019, Turkey's total installed wind capacity reached to 7,369 megawatts in 2018.
The sector grew 7.24 percent in 2018 year-on-year fueled by investments, according to the association and the total number of wind energy projects reached to 180 in 2018 from 164 a year earlier.
Turkey managed to continue investing in wind power installations and equipment production despite the global economic turbulence, TUREB President Mustafa Serdar Ataseven said in a statement.
He also said that Turkey invested $11 billion in wind energy sector to date, and added, "the investment Turkey managed up to date will help country to decrease current deficit."
Turkey, due to its limited domestic energy resources, mainly depends on expensive energy imports for its consumption, which constitutes the biggest share of the current account deficit. The country heavily invests in renewable energy for power generation.
TUREB data showed that Polat Energy company ranked first in operational installed capacity with a total 566 MW as Demirer Energy came 2nd with 494 MW and Guris 3rd with 436 MW.
According to the statistics, Aegean region has the biggest number of operational wind energy power plants, with a share of 38.43 percent of total capacity, while Marmara region has 33.23 percent. Mediterranean region ranked third with 13.52 percent share, while Central Anatolian region has a 9.86 percent share.
