Türkiye plans to quadruple its wind and solar capacity to 175 GW by 2040 under a new national energy strategy presented by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar on 5 November.
The "National Energy 2040" vision, launched days before Türkiye hosts the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, would more than double the country's installed power capacity, from 123 GW to 281 GW.
"By 2040, Türkiye will, hopefully, reach 175,000 MW of installed wind and solar power capacity," Bayraktar said, according to Hürriyet Daily News. "The investment required will be approximately $100 billion."
Solar takes the largest share
According to Anadolu Agency, solar capacity would grow from 26 GW to 112 GW and wind from 15 GW to 63 GW. Hürriyet Daily News reports that the wind figure includes 6,000 MW of offshore wind, with the first offshore YEKA tender planned for April next year.
"The share of renewables will rise from 63 percent to 77 percent," Bayraktar said, referring to installed capacity.
pv magazine reports that the strategy also calls for 140 GWh of energy storage and puts a priority on distributed systems. "We aim to establish small power plants under 1 MW more intensively," Bayraktar said. "Wars and crises have shown that distributed production has become very vital."
Demand and the grid
The plan expects electricity demand to almost double, from 365 TWh in 2025 to 680 TWh in 2040, Anadolu Agency reports, including 90 TWh from electric vehicles. "Most of the demand will come from electric vehicles," Bayraktar said. The target is 20 million electric vehicles and 1.5 million charging points.
Hürriyet Daily News adds that data centres are expected to add 55 TWh of demand by 2040.
The grid would need US$116 billion of investment in transmission and distribution, according to Anadolu Agency, including 28 GW of high-voltage direct current lines over 10,000 km, a 50% increase in transformer capacity and 30% more line length.
Nuclear and the cost
Nuclear capacity is planned to reach 10 GW by 2040, combining the 4,800 MW Akkuyu plant with at least 5,000 MW more, and to meet 11% of electricity needs.
Expanding power capacity to 281 GW would require US$190 billion. Anadolu Agency reports a total investment target of US$500 billion across the whole strategy, including oil and gas, and 108,000 direct jobs.
The 2040 figures go well beyond Türkiye's existing goal of 120 GW of combined wind and solar by 2035. They follow a YEKA auction concluded earlier this week, in which the country awarded 785 MW of solar across 11 projects.
What it means for European and Balkan developers
If delivered, the plan would add about 86 GW of solar by 2040, around 6 GW a year on average, compared with 4.7 GW installed in 2025, pv magazine reports. That would place Türkiye among the largest solar markets in its region.
For developers, the main entry points are likely to be YEKA auctions, hybrid additions at existing plants and the growing distributed segment below 1 MW. Grid investment and storage will decide how much of that capacity can actually be connected and used.
Source: Hürriyet Daily News, Anadolu Agency and pv magazine, 5–6 November 2026.
