Turkey boosts electricity production from wind energy

Turkey aims to supply 30 percent of its total energy demand from renewable energy sources including wind, solar and hydro power. According to data from Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the electricity produced from wind power plants amounts to nearly $600 million. The country's total wind energy capacity reached 3,424 megawatt (MW) with a 466 MW increase in the first six months of 2014. While Turkey produced approximately 3.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from wind energy in 2013, this number has increased to 3.6 billion kilowatt hours in the first six months of 2014 which is enough to meet the electricity needs of around 2.6 million households. In Turkey, a family of four consumes nearly 230 kWh of electricity each month, which amounts to 1380 kilowatt hours in six months. The increasing pace of new investments in Turkey's wind energy sector has also increased the amount of electricity produced while reducing the country's dependency on energy imports to meet domestic demand.