Assessment of Wind Energy Potential and Current Usage Status in Turkey and in the World

Abstract

While many developed countries in the world set 2050, Türkiye has determined 2053 as the year of net zero emissions target. Increase in the usage of renewable energy sources such as wind for the energy production is one of the main methods to achieve this goal. Among the renewable energy sources used for electricity production, wind energy has been the most increasing energy source in Türkiye and around the world in recent years. Today, more than 100 countries in the world generate electricity from wind energy. China, the United States of America and Germany are the top 3 countries with the highest installed capacity of wind energy for a long time. Based on 2022 data, Türkiye ranks 7th in Europe and 12th in the world with respect to the installed wind power plant capacity. Among the renewable energy sources, wind energy in Türkiye has the largest installed power and electricity production after hydroelectricity. In this study, the potential and installed capacity of the wind energy for the different countries in the world and Türkiye are analysed, the shares of the wind energy in current energy production and its contributions to the total energy consumption has been examined. The conditions that will enable the world including Türkiye to meet the energy consumption completely from renewable energy sources and the possible contribution of wind energy to all renewable resources have been estimated.