Share of renewables in energy generation soars in Turkey

Nearly half of Turkey's electricity production in April was generated by hydroelectric power plants, while the share of wind tribunes passed that of natural gas plants, according to data released by the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry on May 2.

Electricity production decreased by 16.3 percent to 19.1 billion kilowatt-hours compared to April 2019.

Out of April's total production, 47.6 percent was generated by hydro plants, while 13.7 percent was derived from imported coal and 7.7 percent from natural gas power plants.

The share of local coal plants in electricity generation was 14.1 percent.

Wind plants generated 10.3 percent and the remaining 6.4 percent came from geothermal, fuel oil and biogas plants.

"Snow melted due to an early thaw in April. The waters flowed into the dams and other stream facilities. The share of electricity generation from waters increased. Secondly, demand fell significantly because of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, market clearing price decreased to 181.16 lira/megawatt-hour," said Osman Nuri Doğan, the former deputy general manager of Turkey's national electricity distribution company TEDAŞ, on May 2.

Electricity generation at natural gas plants has decreased dramatically due to decline in demand, Electricity Producers Association head Cem Aşık said on April 23.

"We expect a decrease of 20 percent in demand this month. The decrease in demand will be 17 percent in May and 4 percent in June, according to our estimates," he said.

Turkey has been applying strict measures to lower social mobility to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic since mid-March, including lockdowns in major cities at the weekends.

"Natural gas plants have been affected at the most in this...