In Türkiye, demand for electricity is surging. With a growing — and urbanizing — population, the country ranks 15th in the world in annual energy production, outpacing several nations with much larger populations. In 2022, Türkiye became the sixth country in Europe and the 14th globally to surpass 100 gigawatts (GW) of combined power plant capacity.
Until this decade, Türkiye relied heavily on a mix of imported fossil fuels and hydropower to keep up with demand. But thanks to its geographical advantages — 300 sunny days a year, Mediterranean and Black Sea winds, and a landscape crisscrossed by rivers — Türkiye has the renewable resources to boost energy security and meet its growing power needs. Over the past 10 years, Türkiye has committed to decarbonization, ratifying the Paris Agreement and pledging to become carbon neutral by 2053. The country has already more than tripled its renewable energy production, which now represents up to 57% of its more than 115,000-megawatt (MW) electricity capacity. Among renewables, hydropower has the largest share, with up to 28%, followed by wind (up to 11%), solar (up to 17%), and geothermal power (1.5%).
Today, in addition to generating more than 25% of Türkiye’s electricity, GE Vernova’s products are playing a vital role in transforming its power sector. Energy transition is a multifaceted challenge, and to assemble a wide-angle solution, Türkiye has called on GE Vernova’s capabilities across its businesses — from solar, wind, and hydro stations to record-breaking H-class gas turbines, as well as electrification software and financial expertise.
“There is a lot of appetite for renewable energy in Türkiye, and we’re working to help meet the country’s targets,” says Megi Gabriyel, director of Solar and Storage for the Middle East, Africa, and Türkiye at GE Vernova. “As a Turkish citizen, I’m proud of what we’re doing to help Türkiye fulfill its ambitious solar plans, in line with the national energy transition plans, including the latest announcement to quadruple wind and solar energy power capacity to 120,000 MW by 2035.”
Harnessing Sunshine
Solar power is playing a key role in Türkiye’s expanding renewable energy sector. After building its first solar plants a decade ago, the country has continued to expand its solar production. Between November 2022 and April 2023, Türkiye’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority received applications for storage-equipped plants that would add 37,000 MW of renewable capacity. In 2024, the government upped the ante, outlining plans to boost solar capacity to 52,900 MW by 2035 from 9,500 MW in 2022. To store that energy, the country hopes to increase installed battery capacity to 7,500 MW in the same time span.
GE Vernova has been part of Türkiye’s solar effort since 2020, when it helped outfit the country’s largest single source of solar power, Kalyon Enerji’s 1,000-MW Karapinar plant. The latest phase was commissioned in 2023. That same year, GE Vernova agreed to supply its FLEXINVERTER station, which combines a solar inverter and a medium-voltage power transformer in a 20-foot-high container, for Ecogreen Energy’s 130-MW Nigde Bor Solar Power Plant. Additionally, Limak Energy collaborated with GE Vernova and Inogen Energy to establish a solar power plant with a planned capacity of 140 MW in the Erzin district of Hatay province. The plant, which began producing electricity last fall, was built to help meet the area’s increasing energy needs in the wake of the 2023 earthquakes. GE Vernova is supplying FLEXINVERTER technology to the project, as well as leading the local engineering, procurement, and construction work.
All told, GE Vernova has helped deliver up to 2,800 MW of solar capacity in Türkiye, $600 million of which the company also helped find financing for. The company backs its contributions with an extended equipment scope and services package, and continues to explore new opportunities in the country.
“Our approach marries collaboration, finance, and technology, and it has been very successful,” Gabriyel says. “We’re working closely with our customers and stakeholders to replicate this model and continue the same momentum and support in the storage market.”
In January 2025, Tosyalı, the world’s leading green steel producer, with 15 million tons per year of crude steel capacity, signed an agreement with GE Vernova and Inogen to provide the first 120 megawatt-peak (MWp) for one of the world’s largest self-consumption solar power plant projects. The first phase is scheduled to become operational in 2025, while the entire 1.2-GW capacity project is targeted for completion in 2027.
This year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Fuat Tosyalı, chairman of Tosyalı Holding, highlighted the critical role of renewable and clean energy in industrial facilities. “We continue to invest in advanced clean energy technologies under our vision of ‘Tosyalı for a sustainable life,’” he said. “We are happy to collaborate with GE Vernova, one of the world’s leading companies in this field, and Inogen, Türkiye’s leading EPC contractor.”
Looking ahead, GE Vernova’s storage solutions are poised to play an essential role in enhancing the integration of renewable energy in the country. With 15 years of experience in deploying solar and storage systems across 16 countries, GE Vernova has achieved a total of 3 GW of operational energy storage systems.
Along with the company’s other renewable energy installations — including 2.3 GW generated by more than 50 wind farms and more than 10 GW of hydro power — GE Vernova solutions significantly contribute to Türkiye’s growing use of renewable energy.
Capital to Enable Energy Transition
As it happens, Türkiye’s push for renewables is coming amid liquidity challenges. With a shortage of local funding and steep interest rates for bank loans, power producers are looking abroad for funding.
This is another area where GE Vernova provides support. To speed the adoption of sustainable technologies, GE Vernova’s in-house Financial Services business can help customers find optimal financing solutions for their projects. The Financial Services team offers a wide range of solutions, and thanks to long-standing relationships with commercial banks, export credit agencies, and development financing institutions around the globe, they can provide tailor-made competitive financing options for each project.
“Our process is very dynamic,” says Uday Mathur, capital markets global leader in Financial Services at GE Vernova. “We’re always trying to find new sources of financing, with public and private institutions prioritizing renewable projects.”
So far, the team has secured more than $1.6 billion in financing for energy projects in Türkiye, through the support of export credit agencies such as UK Export Finance and Euler Hermes, among others. More than $600 million of that financing went toward solar projects. Notable transactions that supported GE Vernova’s Solar and Storage Solutions projects include close to $300 million from JPMorgan with a UK Export Finance (UKEF) guarantee for the Karapinar solar plant, and around €250 million (roughly $270 million) from Standard Chartered Bank, guaranteed by UKEF and KUKE (the Polish export credit agency), for the seven new Kalyon sites.
“These projects would not happen without international financing. Without these funds, the energy transition grinds to a halt,” Mathur says.
But he stresses that it’s imperative to find financing solutions for all types of energy technologies, including conventional power systems, such as gas plants. “Gas provides for grid stability,” he said at a panel talk at the Atlantic Council Regional Conference on Clean and Secure Energy in Istanbul last October. “Gas financing is very important. We’re not going to get to net zero in emerging markets otherwise.”
A Bird’s-Eye View
As Türkiye builds up its renewable capacity, plant owners are also investing in new technologies to streamline existing systems. When they replace older hardware with intelligent, sensor-equipped upgrades, they tap data streams that can help transform their operations.
“The traditional wisdom about how to maintain assets is evolving,” says Hady Onk, an executive leader for the Electrification Software business at GE Vernova. “If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage or improve it. But once you have the data, you can start optimizing.”
Many facilities are turning to software to maximize production and reliability. SOCAR Türkiye, the country’s largest integrated energy company, implemented GE Vernova’s Asset Performance Management (APM) software at two of its sites — an oil refinery and a petrochemical plant. Designed to increase the availability of assets, decrease costs, and manage risks, APM’s near real-time performance analysis has helped SOCAR predict bottlenecks and other issues, reducing equipment malfunctions by 20%.
APM stitches together data from individual departments to present a single, panoramic view of the operation. This allows staff to work together to troubleshoot and to plan new projects. As a result, SOCAR is spending less on maintenance, and employees are getting more out of their workdays. In recognition of their success, the World Economic Forum has added the SOCAR sites to its Global Lighthouse Network, a community of manufacturers that use innovative technology to lessen environmental impact and improve quality of life around the world. The project earned GE Vernova and SOCAR Türkiye the Cross-Border Achievement–Energy Transition & Digital Transformation award at the 2024 Oil & Gas Middle East awards ceremony.
Boosting Efficiency
Türkiye also continues to invest in high-efficiency gas power technologies. Last summer, GE Vernova delivered the first H-class turbine to the country, bringing the company’s total installed gas power capacity in Türkiye to 13.5 GW. The 9HA.02 gas turbine will be the heart of the 850-MW combined cycle power plant currently under construction by ENKA, an independent power producer. The plant is located in Kırklareli, about 20 miles from the Bulgarian border, and will provide power for the surrounding area.
State-of-the-art efficient grid hardware, such as high-performance transformers that minimize energy loss, can also help reduce emissions. GE Vernova’s transformer factory in Gebze, 40 miles southeast of Istanbul, produces units capable of managing a combined 4,000 megavolt-amperes at stations across the globe. In operation since 1966, it is the company’s largest transformer factory in terms of capacity anywhere in the world.
Reflecting on how far — and fast — Türkiye’s renewable energy capabilities have progressed, Onk echoes the pride shared by the entire GE Vernova team. “It feels great to work on something so socially and economically beneficial,” he says. “Being part of a company that is helping electrify and decarbonize the country — I don’t think there’s a higher calling.”