Turkey: electricity distribution grids need $80 billion of investment by 2040, Elder estimates

Turkey’s electricity distribution grids need total investment of $80 billion by 2040, Fakir Hüseyin Erdoğan, Secretary General of the Electricity Distribution Services Association (Elder), told the Anadolu Agency on Monday, 9 November, at the UN climate conference COP31 in Antalya. According to him, the investments will help reduce the country’s energy import bill and integrate renewable sources.

The figures. The Turkish power system has 52 million consumers, and around 36,000 generation facilities are connected to the distribution grid, roughly a quarter of installed capacity, Erdoğan said. Distribution companies invested $2.5 billion last year and have taken on investment obligations of $18.5 billion for the five-year period starting in 2026. The country’s installed capacity is projected to exceed 280,000 MW in 2040, and solar capacity, at 26,000 MW today, to reach 112,000 MW, much of it connected to the distribution grid.

What the sector wants. Erdoğan called the transformation “Distribution 2.0”: grids are moving from one-way to two-way power flows. He called for distributors to be included in the green finance packages discussed at COP31 and listed as priorities smart meters, remote monitoring and control through SCADA systems, and raising the share of ring networks at medium voltage to 100%. The number of electric vehicles, about 500,000, is expected to reach 20 million in 2040, with 1.5 million charging points, he added.

Context. The $80 billion figure for distribution also appears in the 2040 energy vision presented earlier this month by Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, which foresees a further $36 billion for the transmission grid, with high-voltage lines extended from 77,000 to 112,000 km.

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