Turkey and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement for a $2 billion renewable energy investment that will see large-scale solar power plants built in central Turkey, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar signed the intergovernmental deal with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman in Riyadh, during an official visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the kingdom on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after the signing, Bayraktar said the agreement was part of a broader effort by Ankara and Riyadh to expand trade and investment ties under the vision set out by Erdoğan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Bayraktar said the project will ultimately cover around 5,000 megawatts of renewable capacity, with the first phase consisting of 2,000 megawatts of solar power.
Suudi Arabistan ile imzaladığımız anlaşma, Türkiye’nin enerji sektörüne ve yatırım ortamına duyulan güvenin en güçlü göstergesidir.
Yaklaşık 2 milyar dolarlık yatırımla Sivas ve Karaman’da kurulacak güneş santrallerinde rekor düşük fiyattan elektrik üreterek milletimizin… pic.twitter.com/RjiZz5PfwY
— Alparslan Bayraktar (@aBayraktar1) February 4, 2026
The initial solar plants will be built in the central provinces of Sivas and Karaman, each with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts.
“With an investment of nearly $2 billion, we will generate electricity at a record-low price from solar plants to be built in Sivas and Karaman and put it at the service of our people,” Bayraktar wrote on X.
The minister said the first phase alone represents roughly $2 billion in investment financed entirely through foreign funding, including support from international financial institutions.
Turkey has pledged a major expansion of its renewable energy capacity in the coming decade.
Bayraktar pointed to Erdoğan’s announcement at the COP29 climate summit in Baku last year that Turkey aims to reach 120,000 megawatts of installed solar and wind power capacity by 2035.
To meet that goal, he said, Turkey will need to add nearly 10,000 megawatts of new renewable capacity each year.
Construction by Saudi companies is expected to begin in 2027, with the first phase due by the end of that year and the full project scheduled for completion in 2028 and 2029.
The agreement marks one of the most significant examples of direct foreign investment in Turkey’s energy sector in recent years, said the minister, adding that the solar power plants will meet the electricity needs of 2.1 million households in Turkey.