Overview of wind energy in the world and assessment of current wind energy policies in Turkey

This article aims to show that wind energy resource isn't efficiently used in Turkey and how the using of wind energy potential is improved is discussed. Some general information for about political structure and the lack of support mechanism of Turkey are given. For that purpose, a comparison between some developed countries and Turkey is included in this article. Turkey is a country which has wind energy potential on land and sea more than many European countries but the value of installed wind power plants is less than these countries. There is no power generation from offshore wind turbines in Turkey whereas it is surrounded on three sides by seas. The 2023 target which is about the renewable energy generation of Turkey is the 30%. Many developed countries identify long-term plans and implement the policies depend on these plans to exploit wind energy potential more efficiently. In this study, literature screening is adopted. According to findings obtained from the comparison between developed countries and Turkey, it is concluded that although Turkey has a higher potential then a lot of developed countries regarding wind energy, expected efficiency cannot be obtained due to the lack of a national renewable energy policy and the fact that wind energy is not promoted by incentives. Energy planning and management are necessary to promote wind energy which has a vital importance for the development and future of Turkey. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.