Turkey: Unlicensed Electrical Energy Generation In Turkey

On 14/03/2013, the Turkish Government passed the Electricity Market Law with "The objective of this Law is to ensure a financially sound, stable and transparent electricity market that operates in accordance with the provisions of private law in a competitive environment, and an independent regulation and audit in this market for the purpose of electricity supply to the consumers in an efficient, good-quality, sustainable, low-cost and environment-friendly manner" as its 1st Article. This Legislation covers activities such as generation, transmission, distribution, import and export, etc. and the rights and obligations of all real and legal persons engaged in these activities. Many government agencies are involved, and several agreement types are used in this process, such as it is throughout the rest of the world; big numbers mean lots of control. (and lots of tax, fees, charges to be collected...)

The activities executable in the market in accordance with the provisions of this Law after obtaining the compulsory licenses are as follows:

But the Exemptions of this Licensing are listed under Article 14. Such Generation Plants, which are not connected to emergency generator groups or transmission or distribution systems, which have an installed power under one megawatt, or installed to dispose the sludge of solid waste facilities and of treatment plants, are exempted from the obligations of obtaining license.

If the surplus electricity generated from renewable energy sources by a person exempted from the liability to obtain a license is fed into the system, it shall be purchased for 10 years by the last resort supplier of electricity in exchange for prices set based on source types in Law No. 5346 of 10/05/2005 on the Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources with the Purpose of Electricity Generation. This application is relatively easier to build and operate than licensed projects with less red tape.

According to the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation; unlicensed power plants make up to 5% (4.6% of this is Solar Power) of the total installed power in Turkey, which consist of 4855 individual power plants. This is a remarkable contribution by itself, despite lack of proper legislation in Turkey for roof-top solar projects. Roof-top Solar has been cultivating in Turkey for some time. Even though the government has not shown proper support in terms of legislation or regulation, National Solar Panel manufacturers have been trying on their own to create an understanding of this issue on a consumer level and a market for it. (As of February 2018, a new legislation has been adopted which enables -still not so efficiently- residential utility customers to supply their own electricity.)

Rooftop Photovoltaic Systems generate electricity through solar panels mounted on rooftops of residential or commercial structures. On residential buildings they typically feature capacities of 5 to 20 kilowatts, on commercial larger buildings up to 100 kilowatts. Turkey has 350 million square meters of area in industrial rooftop and 3.5 billion square meters of area in individual market rooftops. If we were to assume simply that in a single million square meters area it is possible to install 80 MW power, the full potential of this market in Turkey is staggering, which Turkish manufacturers only started scratching the surface.

Through a more objective perspective; 20 million applicable rooftops show a lot of potential since Turkey tries to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix since the country has scarce domestic energy resources and it is dependent on expensive imports. For these new small consumer rooftop systems, the distribution companies will handle applications and installations procedures. Which will make it more efficient and cost effective for consumers. Without the hassle of licensing and permits to gather, the individual consumer clientele will be more eager to try out this newly developing trend across the world. If we were to add industrial and commercial rooftops to this equation Turkey has an easy potential of minimum 10 GW Power.

Slow but steady, the pressure for change from manufacturers is becoming impossible to withhold. As it is in renewable energy, the ethical stance and the commercial stance find equilibrium, simply synchronize in roof top systems. Apparently, there is always more money to spend, and less air to pollute.

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