The progress, challenges, and opportunities of renewable energy cooperatives in Turkey

Abstract

Renewable energy cooperatives (RECs) in Turkey have received considerable attention in recent years and the total number of cooperatives is 46 in 2020. With increased environmental awareness and energy demand, RECs aim the local and renewable resources to be used by the people of the region by creating an example venture model through cooperatives. The growth in the number of cooperatives has resulted largely from Turkish energy policy and arrangement of Renewable Energies Act. This study is aimed to identify energy cooperatives, current situations, advantages, characterizing the implementation barriers RECs face and external factors. For this purpose, an online questionnaire was carried out with REC members and questionnaires were sent to 468 members of 20 cooperatives via e-mail, and approximately 80% return was obtained, 16 management board members were interviewed with categorized questions, and RECs websites were examined, as well. This paper presents an overview of This paper presents an overview of Turkish energy cooperatives in terms of organization, financing, membership, technology, policy, internal and external barriers drawing on collected data. How to create a better understanding of energy cooperatives and contribute to the Turkish energy policy were discussed. RECs could be an example venture model to provide the local and renewable resources to be used by the people of the region. Also, RECs can be an important building block of the energy transition in Turkey where consumed energy mainly imported from abroad and if RECs are to continue to play an important role in the energy transition, policy makers are expected to support their growth. These findings may be a guide for further researches for Turkey.