(Nov 11): Türkiye will need about US$300 billion (RM122 billion) of investment to meet its targets on transforming its energy system and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The nation has set a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2053 and plans to expand its combined wind and solar capacity to 175GW by 2040, in addition to making investments in energy storage and transmission infrastructure. 

“The challenge is can you produce cheap, clean energy so that you can decarbonise the industry? What is doable? How much money is needed? How are we going to pay for it?" Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Wednesday (Nov 11) at the Global Finance Summit in Antalya, held on the sidelines of COP31.

A real test is finding the resources needed to deliver those ambitions and to balance the challenges of sustaining economic growth while also cutting emissions, he said. Public resources alone will not be enough, making it critical to secure financing from multilateral development banks such as the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Simsek said.

“We’ve got plenty of fiscal space but we don’t think public money will be enough for these ambitions,” he said.

Shifting to renewable energy is vital to address dependence on imported fossil fuels, which weigh on the country’s current-account deficit. Energy purchases account for a large share of the country’s current-account deficit, and Türkiye has spent about US$600 billion importing oil and natural gas over the past decade, he said.

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