Türkiye's electricity exports brought approximately $500 million in revenue between January 2025 and August 2026. Most of the sales went to Iraq and Syria. Yet only one-seventh of the country's capacity to sell electricity to its neighbors is being used.
Iraq and Syria came to the fore in Türkiye's electricity exports
Energy think tank Ember explained the change in cross-border electricity trade in its report published within the scope of COP31. Türkiye, which mainly traded with Bulgaria and Greece in the 2010s, has turned its route to its southern neighbors in recent years.
Approximately 4 TWh of electricity was exported in 2025, bringing a record annual revenue of $360 million. Moreover, when the first eight months of 2026 were added, the 20-month total increased to 500 million dollars.
Sales to Iraq accelerated with the reopening of the 300 MW connection in July 2024. In 2025, operational capacity doubled and Iraq became the largest market. However, due to accumulated payment debts, exports were suspended in August 2025. The flow, which resumed in May 2026, used almost all of the capacity, which reached 600 MW in August.
Exports to Syria remained at approximately 1 TWh annually. The total capacity of the three existing lines is 300 MW. The 500 MW connection between Birecik and Aleppo was also put into operation in September 2026.
The balance has changed in Europe
Türkiye, which received 1-2 TWh of electricity annually from Bulgaria between 2017-2023, became a net exporter as of 2024. In the first seven months of 2026, 1.2 TWh was sold to Bulgaria, while imports remained around 0.1 TWh.
Sales to Greece decreased. Exports, which were 2-3 TWh per year until 2022, decreased to 0.7 TWh in 2024 and 0.5 TWh in 2025. Because Greece increased its renewable production and became a net exporter.
On the import side, Georgia is an important transit point. Since 2021, imports through this country have exceeded 13 TWh. The figure includes electricity from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. Approximately 8 TWh was purchased from Azerbaijan between 2021-2025.
During the 2022-2023 energy crisis, electricity was purchased from Georgia at an average price of 100 dollars/MWh. At that time, prices in Türkiye reached up to 200 dollars/MWh.
28 TWh potential for Turkish electricity exports
The capacity of the operating lines is 2.6 GW export and 1.35 GW import. With unused connections, these figures increase to 3.2 GW in exports and 2 GW in imports.
If the lines operated at full capacity, annual exports could exceed 28 TWh. However, due to bureaucratic, technical, economic and political obstacles, approximately one seventh of this amount can be used. For this reason, Türkiye's electricity exports remain well below its potential.
Türkiye produces 43 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and aims to triple its wind and solar capacity by 2035. Strong connections could enable excess clean electricity to be exported to neighbors rather than being sold at low prices or curtailing production. Its southern neighbors, which meet more than 90 percent of their production from fossil fuels and have supply problems, can also benefit from this.
According to Ember, Türkiye could also offer an alternative land connection to the planned Black Sea submarine cable between Europe and the Caucasus. This option can reduce the cost and duration of the project.
Ember Türkiye and Caucasus Regional Leader Ufuk Alparslan said that Türkiye can turn into a regional clean energy center that manages two-way energy flow. He also stated that total capacity targets should be transformed into concrete and applicable projects on the basis of neighboring countries. The next step for Türkiye's electricity exports is the implementation of these projects.
