By: AGBI

Turkey is set to expand its energy portfolio with plans to use the waters around the country for offshore wind farms, adding to the well-established renewables sector. 

The country deploys a mix of solar, wind, biomass and thermal sources, along with an extensive hydroelectric scheme – the Greater Anatolia Project – based around more than a dozen dams in the southeast of the country. 

Additional energy will become available in 2026, when Turkey’s first nuclear reactor is scheduled to go live – the first of four in a plant being built in the southwestern province of Mersin. Under construction by Russian energy firm Rosatom, it is estimated to cost $24 billion.

When all four reactors are operational, expected in 2028, they will add 4,800 megawatts to Turkey’s generation capacity. 

Ankara last October unveiled its medium-term energy programme, which called for investments of $80 billion to quadruple renewables output to 120,000 MW by 2035.

Under the plan, Turkey’s energy ministry is committed to boosting renewables’ share of capacity to 65 percent by that time, when it will also start to phase out the country’s coal-fired power stations. 

As part of this expansion, Turkey is to dip its toes into offshore wind energy, having at this point developed only onshore wind farms. As of August 2025, Turkey has more than 4,400 turbines in operation, a number set to double in the next decade, according to the Turkish Wind Energy Association (Türeb). 

Many of these new turbines will be sited in the waters off the Turkish coast, with plans for 5 gigawatts of installed offshore capacity by 2035.

Accİbrahim Erden, president of Türeb, says three offshore wind developments are underway in Turkeyessories, Formal Wear, TieTüreb/supplied

A World Bank report published in November 2024 identified Turkey as having significant potential for offshore wind energy generation, with possible sites for large-scale developments well positioned to support the economy’s growing appetite for electricity.  

“Favourable offshore wind resources are located near high-demand power centres, offering a large-scale, domestic power generation source which can increase Turkey’s energy independence and complement other renewable technologies,” the report said.

The move to develop offshore wind capacity will also benefit from the established industrial base feeding into the onshore segment, said the report, for dedicated technology and support services.

Offshore wind will be the next major avenue of growth for renewables, Türeb president İbrahim Erden tells AGBI, although details of how new projects will be developed and approved remain to be finalised. 

“Discussions establishing effective and workable mechanisms between the ministry and stakeholders are ongoing,” Erden says. “Once this process starts it can attract foreign investors, developers and financial institutions.”

Work has begun on Turkey’s first offshore project, in the inland Sea of Marmara.

“It is a collaborative development between the World Bank and the Ministry of Energy, with three sites now under development in the Sea of Marmara and additional sites to start the development process next year,” Erden says. 

According to the World Bank, Turkey could deploy at least 7.5 GW of wind generation capacity in its offshore waters, and domestic technology production is well placed to tap into the regional renewables market.

Up to 100 GW of capacity could be installed in the Mediterranean region in the coming decades, which it said represented “a clear, future export opportunity”.