By Gavin Maguire
LITTLETON, Colorado- Europe’s top coal-fired electricity producer cleaned up its power generation act during the first half of 2024, lifting clean electricity generation by more than 25 percent from the first half of 2024 and cutting fossil fuel-fired output by 9 percent .
Clean power also registered its highest ever share of Turkey’s generation mix during the January to June period, supplying 53 percent of all electricity compared to 44 percent for the same months in 2023, data from energy think tank Ember shows.
Turkey’s overall electricity output also climbed, rising by nearly 7 percent from a year ago to its highest in at least six years, ensuring that total electricity supplies for households and businesses has expanded despite cuts to fossil fuel use.
That expansion in total generation contrasts with generation trends across Europe as a whole, where total electricity output remains below prior peaks in several countries due to subdued demand from industry and greater regional energy efficiency.
Higher overall Turkish electricity generation should start to put pressure on Turkish electricity prices, which remain sharply above long-term average levels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 roiled regional power markets.
Power producers have been under pressure in Turkey to boost total output and cut electricity prices to support economic activity.
Turkey’s manufacturing sector has struggled with weak orders due to soft regional demand for the goods that Turkey produces and high manufacturing costs due to the country’s elevated energy prices.
To boost output, power firms have relied on coal to provide a majority of the country’s electricity, and so far in 2024 have generated more electricity from coal than Germany and Poland, Europe’s next largest coal-fired power producers. – Reuters
