OWind, solar replace gas imports to help Turkey save $7B in a year

This further accelerated in September when the average monthly gas price hit $90 per megawatt-hour

Turkey has managed to save $7 billion in the last 12 months as its wind and solar power generation helped replace fossil fuel imports, lowering electricity bills at a time when gas prices skyrocketed globally, a report said Tuesday, Qazet.az reports.

The government has endeavored to keep utility bills down by suppressing the marketwide price caps, national electricity tariff prices and gas tariff prices.

Still, like many countries, Turkey also suffered from soaring costs, as the more than a sevenfold rise in global gas prices in a year translated into a sixfold increase in electricity prices in the country, according to a new analysis by London-based think tank Ember.

The depreciation of the Turkish lira exacerbated the impact of the fossil gas prices on power prices, the analysis said.

This rise began in the second quarter of last year and almost doubled in July and August last year, reaching $50 per megawatt-hour.

This further accelerated in September when the average monthly gas price hit $90 per megawatt-hour.

Supply and demand imbalances together with geopolitical disputes drove the increase in fossil gas prices up last year, and this pattern continued this year, supported further by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The analysis reports that amid high fossil fuel prices, wind and solar played a critical role in lowering electricity bills in Turkey, which it said would have been even higher without their contribution.