By Oguzhan Ozsoy
ANKARA
Up to 2,000 applicants have filed requests to power distributors to allow them to produce their own electricity, with 1,100 being approved, head of an association of Turkey's off-the-grid electricity producers has said.
"People or legal entities producing their own geothermal energy will reach a 300 MW installed capacity by the end of 2014," Yalcin Kiroglu said Wednesday.
Under a recently passed legislation, individual companies can generate over 1 MW of electricity by using wind turbines, solar panels or biomass technologies and also sell any surplus to regional distribution companies.
With electricity consumption rising each year, Turkey is seeking to decrease its energy bill, which is currently about $60 billion annually.
It is attempting to increase its installed electricity capacity to 100,000 MW by 2023, from its current 64,000 MW.
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