In a bid to expand Turkey’s green energy system, the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has approved USD 70 million in funding for renewable energy development. The aim is to prepare the country’s power grid to integrate an additional 60 GW of wind and solar energy by 2035.
The Turkish government plans to quadruple solar photovoltaic capacity from 14 GW to almost 53 GW and more than double wind capacity from 12 GW to 29.6 GW in line with the net zero target of 2053.
The finance from the CIF Renewable Energy Integration (REI) programme is expected to mobilise over USD 1 billion in co-financing from multilateral development banks, as well as public and private sectors by 2035.
The CIF funds will enable a USD 790 million project that aims to expand and upgrade the national power transmission system, along with a USD 330 million investment in system flexibility, including a 7.500-MW increase in battery energy capacity.
“Our support for the development of a smart, flexible and responsive national grid will help ready the country for such a rapid increase in intermittent wind and solar power,” said Tariye Gbadegesin, Climate Investment Funds CEO.
“It’s exactly why the Climate Investment Funds and our multilateral development bank partners established a Renewable Energy Integration (REI) programme: to offer catalytic and highly concessional finance that solves system-wide clean energy barriers and opens the way to a greener future.”