NEWS FROM TÜRKİYE

Reuters - The Turkish wind energy industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. One reason is that Türkiye’s growing industry needs an ever-increasing supply of energy. Furthermore, Türkiye has just ratified the Kyoto agreement which is going to result in carbon emission reduction targets for the post 2013 period. Among other renewable resources, wind has been the most popular and most accessible power source in the last four years. In 2005, the total installed capacity in Türkiye was 20.1 MW generated by 34 turbines. With the introduction of the first Law on Renewable Energy Resources in 2005 by the Turkish Parliament, the market more than doubled in 2006 by reaching 50 MW, then tripled to 147 MW by the end of 2007. As of today, Türkiye has almost 490 MW of installed capacity, and by the end of 2010 it is projected to reach 1,500 MW — around 3.5% of the country’s total energy capacity. In 2007, the Turkish Electricity Survey and Development Administration (EIE) developed the Turkish Wind Atlas, which served as a big eye-opener to all types of investors. The Market Authority EMRA has licensed 78 projects constituting 2,900 MW of capacity. There have been almost 78,000 MW of license applications. Currently, the feed-in tariff for renewables is limited to 5.5 eurocent/KWh. The new proposed amendment to the law will offer 8 eurocent/KWh for on land wind power applications. Türkiye is becoming more attractive as public incentive discussions are becoming popular and power prices keep rising. The electricity price for residential customers saw an increase of 31% since last year. The next years are going to be exciting and full of opportunities for domestic and foreign investors. The Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Türkiye (ISPAT) has identified renewable energy as an attractive area for foreign investment and is a good point of contact for any foreign investor that is willing to learn more about investment opportunities in the country.