Keban hydropower plant generates 294 billion kilowatt-hours in 52 years

The Keban Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Euphrates River has generated approximately 294 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity since it began operating on September 9, 1974. The plant generated more than 5.2 billion kilowatt-hours in the first eight months of 2026, an increase of 87.39 percent compared with the same period last year.

Scraper SystemSeptember 09, 2026, 05:23 PM

Keban hydropower plant generates 294 billion kilowatt-hours in 52 years

The Keban Hydroelectric Power Plant, which began operating on the Euphrates River on September 9, 1974, has generated approximately 294 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity over 52 years of operation. At the time it was commissioned, the plant was Türkiye's largest dam and hydroelectric power plant, meeting approximately 20 percent of the country's electricity needs.

Keban's generation capacity

Keban is Türkiye's third-largest hydroelectric power plant by installed capacity, with an annual generation capacity of 6.2 billion kilowatt-hours. The facility consists of eight units and has an installed capacity of 1,330 megawatts.

The plant generated more than 5.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 87.39 percent compared with the same period last year. Bekir Kaya, director of the Keban Hydroelectric Power Plant, said the facility meets 1.1 percent of Türkiye's growing energy demand.

Domestic rehabilitation work

The rehabilitation work, launched in 2019 under the coordination of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, was carried out by Turkish engineers and technicians from the Electricity Generation Corporation and the Energy Institute of TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center. The work has reached its final stage, and the plant's technological infrastructure has been upgraded.

The renewal work increased Keban's energy efficiency. Elazığ Governor Numan Hatipoğlu said the plant was one of the most important milestones in Türkiye's engineering history and represented a monument of the Republic identified with Elazığ.

Impact of rainfall on generation

Bekir Kaya said the annual average generation over the past 10 years had been 4.6 billion kilowatt-hours. Kaya said water inflows, which had averaged 15 billion cubic meters over the past decade, reached approximately 21 billion cubic meters this year and that rainfall had significantly increased generation.

Kaya said Keban generated 7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2019 and that the plant aims to exceed that year's generation level.

Fishing and irrigation projects

Numan Hatipoğlu said Elazığ had become Türkiye's leading province in inland fisheries production thanks to fishing activities in the Keban and Karakaya reservoir lakes. Hatipoğlu also said the irrigation projects under way at Keban Reservoir were expected to contribute to agricultural production.

Keban hydropower plant generates 294 billion kilowatt-hours in 52 years