Turkey to power up electricity storage

• Up to $8.75bn battery storage
• To meet domestic and tech needs
• Will boost long-term growth

Turkey will accelerate rolling out new electric storage capacity to meet domestic energy security needs and feed in to anticipated growth in demand from the country’s expanding tech sector. 

Speaking at a media event last month, Doğa Can Bayram, president of the Energy Storage Industries Association (EDEDER), said that up to $8.75 billion of new battery storage projects were in the development pipeline.

This is part of a wider renewable energy capacity expansion that aims to make Turkey energy independent and resilient to external influences. 

According to EDEDER data, preliminary licences for projects representing 38 gigawatts (GW) of storage have already been issued, with the first of the new tranche of developments – representing 1.5GW – set to come on line by the end of next year. 

“As these systems are installed, both Turkey’s energy security and renewable growth will be strengthened,” Bayram said. 

“The country will be able to manage its own production-consumption balance internally. This is a critical step for the security of not only the energy system but also the entire economy.”

Of the new capacity, 5GW would be required for independently managing Turkey’s power system, with a further 15GW of storage to provide capacity to meet short-term future demands in consumption driven by the rise of new tech industries and grid growth, according to EDEDER forecasts. 

The balance of the increased capacity would boost longer-term growth and also allow for Turkey to become an energy hub for the region, helping to meet the electricity needs of neighbouring countries. 

One challenge Turkey’s indigenous power storage sector faces is China, which currently has a marked price advantage in cell manufacturing capacity and output, said Bayram. However this could be offset by increased scale of production and Turkey’s strong software and system management capabilities, which give the sector a competitive edge. 

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The push into building power storage capacity through local battery production and new cell projects linked to clean energy developments will have a flow on effect across the economy and boost competitiveness, energy expert Dr Cihad Terzioğlu said.

“This will lead to a capacity increase in industrial output including side industries,” said Terzioğlu, who is the general manager of green power firm 360 Energy and chairman of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association’s mining and energy management committee. 

“You catch up with global developments in this industry and start applying them domestically.”

Rising generation capacity, married with storage, will mean Turkey can position itself as an energy exporter, Terzioğlu said. 

“Turkey is working firstly to meet its own demand but is also preparing to be an exporter,” he said.

“In coming years, I see Turkey increasing electricity exports to its neighbours as it does to Syria now and even non-neighbouring countries through its interconnectivity lines.”