In the year 2021, Turkey installed 1.148 GW of new solar PV capacity, according to the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEIAS), with the addition of 156.6 MW in the months of November 2021 and December 2021.
The corporation had previously announced 992 MW new solar capacity having been installed in the country between January 2021 and October 2021 (see Turkey's Solar Capacity Exceeds 7.6 GW).
With the 2021 addition, Turkey's cumulative installed solar power capacity till the end of December 2021 went up to 7.815 GW, contributing to the national electricity mix that totaled 99.82 GW.
Dominant energy generation sources in the country remain natural gas with 25.57 GW, and hydropower with 23.28 GW. Wind power plants represent 10.6 GW and lignite projects another 10.12 GW. Coal power plants add up to 8.99 GW, among others.
GlobalData expects Turkey's solar energy potential to achieve its 15 GW solar PV target for 2027 by 2026 driven by supportive regulatory framework and growing role of private sector (see Turkey Close To 50 GW RE Capacity By 2030).
In December 2021, Switzerland based module maker Swiss Solar identified Turkey as the location for its new 1.5 GW production facility comprising 3 production lines, all to produce bifacial modules of 450W, 500W and 545W output, as it looks to fulfil demand from Europe, North and South America. By 2027, it plans to install 10 production lines each with 500 MW capacity to increase the annual capacity to 5 GW.