A review on the development of wind energy in Turkey

Achieving sustainable development is a target that is now widely seen as important to worldwide public opinion. In this regard, the utilization of renewable energy resources, such as solar, geothermal, and wind energy, appears to be one of the most efficient and effective ways in achieving this target. Recently, wind power as a potential energy has grown at an impressive rate in Turkey. This paper reviews the development of wind energy in the country as of the end of October 2003, including its history, studies conducted on wind energy, restructuring of the Turkish electricity market and wind energy applications. Turkey's total theoretically available potential for wind power may be around 88,000 MW annually, with particularly attractive areas for wind located along Turkey's west coast and in southeastern Anatolia. Electricity generation through wind energy for general use was first realized in Izmir, Turkey in 1986 with a 55 kW nominal wind energy capacity. However, the utilization of wind energy in Turkey has increased since 1998 when the first wind power plant with a total capacity of 1.5 MW was installed. Up to date, three wind power plants were installed with a total capacity of 18.9 MW, while a wind power plant with a total capacity of 1.2 MW will be commissioned in November 2003. Present applications have shown that wind energy in Turkey is a promising alternative and the strong development of wind energy is expected to continue in the coming years following restructuring of the Turkish electricity market.