The electricity sector was nationalized in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and by the end of nationalization almost a quarter of the population was supplied with electricity. By the end of the 20th century almost all the population was supplied with electricity.
Just over 300 TWh was used in 2019, with demand peaking at 52 GWe in August. Total demand in 2020 is forecast to be similar.
Efficient use
In the five years from 2019 Turkey plans to invest US$11 billion in energy efficiency. Also a target of 80% smart meters by 2035 has been set.
Demand Forecasts
Electricity's share of final energy demand was about a fifth in 2018 but is expected to increase. In October 2018 the government forecast electricity demand of 317 TWh for 2019. However 2018 demand turned out to be 303 TWh, an increase of less than 1% on 2017. So that 2019 forecast would be a 5% increase with the economy predicted for recession, and in the past several demand forecasts have been overestimates, sometimes due to overestimates of economic growth. One 2018 academic forecast was that by 2021 demand will be between 322 and 345 TWh. the Energy Ministry was predicting demand of 357 TWh by 2023. the ministry forecast for 2030 demand was 500 TWh and another forecast predicts between 440 and 550 TWh. However as of 2019, there is about one third surplus generating capacity.
Electrification
At least one charger per 50 parking spaces in public areas and shopping malls is required. Production by electric vehicle companies, such as TOGG, may not be enough to avoid the risk to the economy of Turkey of high oil import bills in the mid-2020s.
Generation
Of the total 308.5 terawatt-hours of electricity generated in 2019 coal's share was 114.6 terawatt-hours, hydropower 89.2, natural gas 58.1, wind, solar, and geothermal 45.3. Installed capacity was 90GW in 2019. As well as the state owned Electricity Generation Company there are many private companies.
Trade
In 2019 about 150TWh was traded on the day ahead spot market, about half of the 300 TWh generated, at an average rate of 260 lira for each megawatt hour.
Transmission
is the transmission system operator. According to a 2018 study by Sabancı University 20% of Turkey's electricity could be generated from wind and solar by 2026 with no extra transmission costs, and 30% with a minor increase in grid investment. Mobile 10MW batteries may be useful in future for reducing temporary transmission congestion between regions, or larger ones for frequency regulation.
Distribution
is done by the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation and regional monopolies. According to academics at the Shura Energy Center Increasing Turkey's proportion of electric cars in use to 10% by 2030 would smooth distribution, amongst many other benefits.
Standards
plugs and sockets are the standard, at 220 V and 50 Hz. For public charging of electric vehicles the European standard Combined Charging System is used but there are also some CHAdeMO chargers. As of 2020 there are no Tesla superchargers.
Resilience
Although the nationwide blackout in 2015 was not caused by a natural disaster, the installation of more local solar power with batteries and microgrids in vulnerable places might help vital buildings such as hospitals retain power after the next earthquake in Turkey. Academics suggest that cost–benefit analysis of such systems should take into account any benefits of resilience and also the cost of installing an islandable system.
Policy and regulation
Governments is aiming for half of electricity to be from renewable energy in Turkey by 2023, with capacity targets of 34 GW for hydropower, 20 GW for wind, 5 GW for solar PV, 1 GW for biomass, and 1 GW for geothermal. The authors of a report from Shura Energy Transition Center at Sabancı University have suggested that longer-term plans and targets would also be useful, together with a higher target for solar, policy on distributed generation, and market design to incentivize grid flexibility. The objectives are developing local manufacturing capacity, technology transfer, and creating a competitive domestic market for low-cost renewable energy. For wind and solar tenders there is a high domestic content requirement, and imported solar modules are taxed. the costs and benefits of attempting to enhance local manufacturing capacity are still uncertain, especially for solar. Developing regulation to specify the role of aggregators in providing flexibility and including energy storage systems and demand side management within ancillary services has been suggested.
Subsidies
is heavily subsidized. The current feed-in tariff system for renewables expires in 2020.
Environmental impact
The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey is the country's coal-fired power stations, many of which are subsidized. The older coal-fired power stations also cause local air pollution in Turkey.
Economics and finance
As elsewhere new renewables are auctioned. if all currently economic renewable projects were developed, the added electricity generation would be sufficient to reduce Turkey's natural gas imports by 20%. The wholesale market is operated by Energy Exchange Istanbul and wholesale prices are controlled by EUAŞ, the state electricity generation company. In January 2019 EDPK published estimates of power plant financing. Prices to end consumers are regulated by the government. A green tariff is planned for 2020.
Ownership of generators
about 15% of power was generated by the public sector. During the 2010s power companies borrowed heavily in dollars, but economic growth was overestimated and they overbuilt generating capacity: by September 2019 they had bank debts of $34 billion but revenues had declined in dollar terms due to the fall in the lira and 7% of debts were nonperforming. In 2020 Turkish companies in general still owe much foreign currency and debt may be restructured and plants may change ownership.
