Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB) shared the sector's current data, growth targets and structural expectations for investments with the public at the press conference held before the COP31 Summit.
TÜREB Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. According to the data announced at the meeting held with the participation of İbrahim Erden and unit vice presidents; Türkiye's mechanical wind installed power, which was 2.4 gigawatts (GW) in 2012, reached 16.2 GW by June 2026. In Türkiye, which became the second largest market in Europe with the new installation of 2,142 megawatts in 2025, the share of wind energy in electricity production was measured as 13.5 percent.
While the sector prevents Türkiye's annual natural gas import bill of 4 billion dollars with its current production capacity, it provides employment to 30 thousand people and creates an annual added value of 2-2.5 billion dollars to the economy through equipment exports.
GIANT TARGET AND INVESTMENT OBSTACLES FOR 2035
TÜREB foresees Türkiye's wind capacity target for 2035 as 48 gigawatts. In order to realize this scenario, which requires approximately tripling the existing power, an average of 3.2 GW of new installations must be made every year in the 2026-2035 period.
Industry representatives point out that only 4.5 GW of the current 25.5 GW onshore project stock is at the investment stage; Although they argue that three basic problems must be overcome in order to increase the speed of implementation of projects, there are serious ecological and economic objections on the other side of the coin:
Permit Processes and Nature Destruction Concern: Although sector representatives demand that forest, pasture and expropriation processes be accelerated, the main reason for the cancellations in this process is that not every region is suitable for wind power plant (WPP) installation. As a result of lawsuits filed against unplanned projects built on bird migration routes, forest areas or agricultural lands, many projects are returned from the courts. For example; The positive EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) decisions of many RES projects that threatened the ecosystem and endemic species in regions such as İzmir, Karaburun, Çeşme and Urla were annulled by the Council of State and local courts. This situation shows that the slowdown in permit processes is not just a bureaucratic cumbersomeness, but a legal obligation to protect nature.
Network: It is stated that the 28 billion dollar transmission infrastructure investments planned until 2035 should proceed simultaneously with the power plant projects.
Financing and the Legacy of the Özal Era: Investors demand state-supported, predictable and cost-effective financing models against increasing borrowing costs. However, the formula "Cost and risk belong to the state, profit belongs to the investor" leads to a justified questioning in the public. Mismanagement policies, the foundations of which were laid in the 1980s during the Turgut Özal period and which transformed the energy sector from a public service into a market, are at the center of today's discussions. The "Build-Operate-Transfer" model and guaranteed privatization logic that Özal initiated in the energy sector created a distorted system in which the state funds the private sector, but the profit earned goes entirely into the companies' coffers. Today, the public and economists rightly raise the following objection: "If the state will already provide the cost-effective loans, guarantees and infrastructure support required for a project, why does the state not directly build these profitable power plants on behalf of the public?" This model, which provides profit transfer to investors, brings into question the public's capacity to invest with its own resources.
Türkiye'S WIND POTENTIAL AT COP31
Türkiye will bring its wind potential to the international platform at the COP31 Climate Summit to be held in Antalya between 9-20 November 2026. At the summit, which will be held with the theme of "Implementation COP", TÜREB will organize 8 different sessions together with the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Ministers and hundreds of investors from more than 10 countries are expected to attend the "Ministers and Investors Meeting" to be held on November 9.
