Turkey's hydropower fleet, with 32 GW of installed capacity, remains the backbone of renewable electricity generation. While solar and wind have grown rapidly, hydropower provides essential flexibility and baseload capability to the grid.
Current fleet — Run-of-river and reservoir plants are distributed across the Eastern Black Sea, Eastern Anatolia, and Mediterranean regions. The Euphrates and Tigris basins host the largest facilities. Turkey has limited undeveloped river resources, so future growth will come from modernisation and pumped storage.
Pumped storage — Several new pumped storage projects are under development or planning. These will provide critical balancing services as variable renewable penetration increases. The government has identified pumped storage as a priority for grid stability.
Modernisation — Ageing plants are being retrofitted with modern turbines and control systems. Digitalisation and predictive maintenance are improving availability and efficiency. Environmental flow requirements and sediment management remain key considerations.