Turkey's electricity production increased by 12.5% in August compared to the same month of 2020, according to the latest data reported by the country's energy watchdog.
Total electricity production increased to approximately 31.4 million megawatt-hours (MWh), from 27.9 million MWh in August 2020, Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) announced in its electricity market report for August 2021.
Turkey produced electricity from several sources: 39.9% from natural gas, 17.4% from imported coal, 15.3% from hydropower and 12% from lignite. Wind, geothermal, biomass, hard coal, asphaltite, solar power, fuel oil and diesel generated the remaining share.
Electricity consumption in August rose to 24.7 million MWh, marking a 10.9% increase compared to the same month of 2020. Industrial sector consumption held the largest share at 40%, followed by the commercial sector at 27%. The residential sector ranked third with 24.2%, while agricultural irrigation and street lighting accounted for the remainder.
The increase in electricity production and consumption in August this year compared to August last year reflects the slowdown after the first coronavirus case was reported in Turkey in March 2020 when the country announced a country-wide lockdown that slowed down economic activity.
Turkey's installed electricity capacity was up 5.5% in August from the same period of 2020.
Natural gas power plants comprised 27.9%, while 25.5% came from hydropower plants, 11.1% from lignite power plants and 10.9% from wind plants. Imported coal, hydro, geothermal, biomass, hard coal, solar power, asphaltite, fuel oil, naphtha, LNG and diesel also contributed to installed capacity.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency