An investment worth $125 million (£86.2m) will be made to boost Turkey’s geothermal energy sector.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) are providing the money.

The funding is part of a programme in which the EBRD is investing $100 million (£69m) and the CTF $25 million (£17.2m).

The PLUTO programme will finance geothermal exploration and if it is successful, the EBRD will support the final stages of the drilling and construction of the power plants.

It aims to develop five new sites with a total capacity of around 60MW, generating more than 450GWh of renewable electricity annually.

The EBRD said the project will increase the amount of geothermal capacity installed in Turkey by more than 10%.

Adonai Herrera-Martinez, Senior Manager in the EBRD Energy Efficiency and Climate Change team added: “The EBRD is the first international financial institution to help private geothermal energy developers bridge the equity gap. Our goal is to unlock the vast amounts of renewable energy trapped deep underground and to attract more private investment and bank financing in the sector, moving away from reliance on purely public funds.”

Turkey has a target to develop 30% of its total installed capacity from renewable sources by 2023.

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