For 500 billion dollars: Renewable and nuclear power: Türkiye is putting together a gigantic electricity package

The Iran war is not leaving Turkey unscathed either. In order to finally become independent in terms of energy supply, the country is investing a lot of money. It may also flow into new nuclear power plants.

Turkey wants to focus its energy supply on electricity by 2040 and invest 500 billion US dollars in this regard. Renewable and nuclear power are to be expanded, as emerged from the national energy strategy presented by Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar. The plan calls for the share of renewables in installed electricity capacity to increase from the current 63 percent to 77 percent. Of the total investments, more than 330 billion dollars are expected to flow into electrification. The total capacity is expected to increase from 123 to 281 GW.

There are also plans to expand nuclear power to an output of ten gigawatts. A decision on two additional nuclear power plants is due to be made in 2027. According to media reports, one of these projects was the topic of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit at the end of October.

Bayraktar had previously stated that nuclear energy was high on the agenda in the talks. The Canadian company CANDU is considered a possible partner for the construction of a power plant on the Black Sea coast.

With the strategy, the government wants to reduce dependence on energy imports, which recently amounted to 65 to 70 billion dollars per year. In order to secure current supplies, Turkey concluded a one-year agreement with Iraq in August on the use of a crude oil pipeline. Although overall energy demand is expected to fall due to increasing electrification, per capita electricity consumption is expected to double. Electric vehicles, data centers and heat pumps are considered drivers. According to the plan, total emissions should fall by 40 percent.