Renewable Energy Policy in Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to explore the availability and potential of renewable energy sources in Turkey and discuss the government policies and economic aspects. Turkey is a country which has the highest hydropower and wind energy potential among European countries. Current energy policy of Turkey primarily aims to maximize geothermal, wind and hydropower potential of the country in next 15 years. In Several incentives were developed for electricity generation from renewable energy sources by the publication of Law No. 5346 in 2005. The most important ones are: ease of land acquisition and feed-in-tariffs which promises purchasing of electricity generated by legal entities with a price of 5-5.5 €c/kWh. Since Turkey is a European Union (EU) candidate its laws and regulations must be compatible with EU. As the legislation in EU member states is investigated it is apparent that Law No. 5346 should be restructured. This should include: (i) redetermination of feed-in-tariff amount according to type and capacity of renewable energy source, (ii) taking installed capacity into account instead of reservoir area for hydroelectric power plants as renewable energy source, (iii) making detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report obligatory for renewable energy plants. The emphasis has been given on hydropower and wind energy. The renewable energy policy of Turkey has been compared with the advanced economies in Europe like Germany and Norway