Turkey to become one of top solar panel producers: Minister

Turkey aims to increase its solar power panel production capacity to 9,110 megawatts by 2023 and become one of the top three producers in the world in this field, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said.

Increasing the share of renewables in total installed electricity production capacity is crucial for ensuring energy security and investments made in this field are yielding results, Dönmez said.

"However, only boosting renewables' share is not enough, the technology related to renewables must also be developed. Turkey has succeeded in this. We have become one of the leading countries in the world in wind power and solar power."

With new investments Turkey aims to become one of the three top producers of solar panel producers, Dönmez said.

The world's solar panel production capacity presently is 185,000 megawatts, with China topping the list at 124,000 megawatts, followed by Vietnam at 14,000 megawatts. South Korea ranks third at 9,200 megawatts, while Turkey follows this country with its production capacity of 7,960 megawatts.

Meanwhile, the country has been boosting its use of solar power over the past decade. According to data from the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, Turkey's installed solar power capacity rose from 40 megawatts in 2014 to more than 8,000 megawatts in 2022.

Turkey has increased its installed electricity production capacity from 31,846 megawatts in 2002 to more than 100,000 megawatts as of end-March 2022. In line with the increase in installed capacity, the renewable sources raised their share in total power generation rose over the years. The share of renewables rose from 38 percent in 2002 to 54 percent.

The wind power installed capacity in Turkey reached 10,864...