Turkey hit a historic electricity consumption record on July 3 with 927.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, Energy and Natural Resources Ministry official told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
Turkey's previous electricity consumption record was 905.7 million kilowatt hours on August 10, 2016.
The increasing industrial production capacity as well as extremely hot weather led to Turkey's power consumption record earlier than expected.
"The necessary electricity investments, especially in distribution and transmission systems, have been completed and Turkey managed to meet the record consumption without any problem or with any cuts," the ministry official noted.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak had announced that Turkey would complete investments of $18 billion in the distribution system along with $12 billion in the country's transmission system between the period 2016 and 2020.
Turkey's 21 private electricity distribution companies are handling the $18 billion investment while Turkey's Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS) - a directorate under the ministry that is responsible for handling transmissions.
- First record experience without any cuts
"This was the first occasion that there was no need for cuts, so that neither consumers nor the industry were badly impacted," the ministry official said.
Turkey's electricity generation power plants are generally located in the eastern part of Turkey. Thus, electricity needs to be carried from the east of the country to the west - a situation that requires stronger and healthier transmission and distribution lines.
The ministry planned investments of $30 billion for the electricity sector to have a better system that would ensure continuous supply especially at peak times.
- Electricity consumption grows 3.7 percent in 1H17
Furthermore, Turkey's electricity consumption grew by 3.7 percent in the first six months of 2017. Total consumption during that period increased to 138.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity compared to 133.3 billion kilowatt-hours for the same period of 2016, TEIAS data showed.
The highest daily consumption was recorded on June 30 with 886.3 million kilowatt-hours due to excessive air conditioning use on one of the hottest days of the year.
The lowest consumption came on June 25 with 554.3 million kilowatt-hours when Turkey celebrated the first day of the Ramadan Feast when the majority of industries in the country were not functioning.
(Anadolu Agency, July 05, 2017)
