Türkiye Zooms In on Four Offshore Wind Sites Ahead of First Tender

Türkiye plans to launch its first offshore wind Renewable Energy Resource Area (YEKA) tender after completing processes for four sites the government identified for offshore wind development, according to the country’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar.

Speaking at the opening of the 15th Turkey Wind Energy Congress (TÜREK 2026), Bayraktar said the offshore wind sites are located in the waters off Saros Bay, Gökçeada, Bozcaada and Edremit.

“One of the most strategic priorities for the coming period will be offshore wind energy”, Bayraktar said. “Once the permitting processes are completed, we will hold Türkiye’s first offshore wind YEKA tender. We aim to reach a capacity of 5,000 megawatts in offshore wind by 2035.”

The minister said Türkiye plans to continue holding YEKA tenders for at least 2 GW annually, with 1.5 GW of the 2026 tender capacity expected to be allocated to wind projects.

Türkiye’s installed wind power capacity has now surpassed 15 GW, up from 20 MW in 2005, according to Bayraktar. Wind energy accounted for approximately 11 per cent of the country’s electricity generation in 2025, producing 34.5 billion kWh.

The minister added that Türkiye has achieved more than 60 per cent localisation in wind turbine manufacturing, with over 70 per cent localisation rates in towers, generators and blades.

Bayraktar also highlighted plans to invest approximately USD 30 billion (around EUR 25.5 billion) in transmission infrastructure by 2035 as part of Türkiye’s broader target to reach 120 GW of combined wind and solar capacity by 2035.

According to the World Bank’s estimates from 2020, Turkey has a technical offshore wind potential of 75 GW, with 12 GW of this deemed most suitable for fixed-bottom and 63 GW for floating offshore wind.

At the beginning of this year, the president of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB) was quoted by national media as saying that the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MENR) had been working to identify suitable sites, design tender mechanisms, and explore financing models with an aim to launch the first offshore wind tender in 2026.

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