Ember report finds Türkiye could run 85% of its energy use on electricity with today's technology

Electricity could supply up to 85% of Türkiye's final energy consumption using technologies available today, up from 22% now, according to a report released Tuesday by the energy think tank Ember.

The report describes Türkiye's target of raising electricity's share to 35% by 2035, announced as host of the United Nations (UN) climate summit known as COP31, as an important step toward that potential, according to the İklim Haber newsroom. But the share rose only 1.3 percentage points over the past 11 years, so meeting the target would require progress 10 times faster.

Türkiye has made clean power gains, lifting wind and solar from 4.5% to 22% of electricity generation in a decade. Yet because most new electricity demand since 1990 went to new uses rather than replacing fossil fuels, fossil fuels have supplied about 70% of final energy for 34 years.

Electricity already covers about 32% of energy use in buildings and 30% in industry, but less than 1% in transport. Ember found that all building energy use, 96% of transport and 58% of industry are ready to switch with current technology. Switching homes to heat pumps alone could add 11 points to the national electrification rate, and electric cars can provide the same transport with less than a third of today's energy.

"Türkiye can reduce its dependence on imported fuels and strengthen its energy security by carrying its high renewable energy potential to end users through electrification," said Bahadır Sercan Gümüş, the report's author and a senior energy analyst at Ember.

This brief is based on reporting by the İklim Haber newsroom, published Oct. 27, 2026. Read the original: https://www.iklimhaber.org/yeni-rapor-turkiye-enerji-tuketiminin-%85ini-elektrikle-karsilayabilir/