Turkey highlights solar expansion ahead of UN climate summit as coal leads power mix

More than 3 million solar panels cover ground equal to 2,600 soccer fields at the Kalyon Karapınar YEKA-1 Solar Power Plant in Karapinar, Konya province. The plant has been operational since 2023 and generates about 0.7% of Turkey's national power demand each year. Director Burak Dogru told AP it prevents approximately 1.75 million metric tons of carbon emissions every year. Coal supplied 33% of Turkey's electricity generation last year and remained the largest source, the Energy Ministry said. Solar and wind together reached nearly 23% of generation. The Turkish Statistical Institute put 2024 greenhouse gas emissions at 584.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Turkey will host COP31 in Antalya from Nov. 9-20, 2026, about 265 kilometers from the Konya site. The country's first nuclear power plant is under construction on the Mediterranean coast. Duygu Kutluay cautioned that Turkey's plans lack a fossil-fuel phase-out roadmap and said they are "not compatible." Murat Kurum, presenting COP31 priorities earlier this year, said the world wants past decisions put into practice. A court annulled the Afsin-Elbistan coal plant environmental assessment. Flooding in Istanbul last month killed eight people.