Turkey´s electricity consumption increased by 78 percent reaching 235 billion kilowatt hour (kWs) in the last year from 140 billion kWh in 2003.
Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Anadolu Agency that electricity consumption has been increasing consistently with the improvement of welfare in the country.
"Turkey has doubled it’s electricity consumption since 2002.We will nearly double our electricity consumption to 450 bilion kWh by 2023," Yildiz said.
Yildiz also said that the ministry plans to invest in cities where electric consumption is high, but Turkey needs additional nuke and coal plants as well as renewable energy investments in order to meet its supply for the country's energy demand.
The Turkish Electricity Transmission Company, which operates and maintains Turkey’s electricity grid, estimated that the country would consume 256 billion kWh of electricity in 2014.
It is widely believed that Istanbul, the largest city in the country by population and industry, consumes more electricity than eight OECD countries.
Istanbul used 36.8 billion kWh electric in 2013, said the company. Data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows countries consumption rates within Europe use less than the city of Istanbul. Hungary consumed 34.4, Denmark 30.4, Slovak Republic 28.6 and Ireland 27.7 billion kWh electricity in 2013.
Istanbul also consumes more electricity than countries such as Estonia, Iceland, Luxemburg, and Slovenia.