Due to its fast and steady economic development, Turkey’s need for energy is increasing. Yet, compared with other developed countries, the energy consumption per head falls behind, which calls for undiminished development of the energy sector.
Power consumption increased by 61%, from 31,846 MW in 2000 to 51,547 MW in 2011, and is expected to rise to 434,000 MW by 2020.
Potentially, Turkey possesses an abundance of renewable energy sources, which are currently only partially explored. Green opportunities are one of the hot topics in Turkey. Development of sustainable energy is not only regarded as a way to become less dependent on the import of energy, but also as a solution to world-wide climatic problems such as global warming.
Local communities play a major role in environment control where it comes to recycling, (waste) water treatment, sanitation and waste disposal.
Incentives are a considerable boost for investments in sustainable energy and environmental technology
A recent new law (no.5346) contains various incentives to stimulate the use of sustainable energy sources in the production of electricity, including:
- attractive rates for reversed power delivery
- purchase warranties and connection priorities
- reduced licence rates
- exemption of licence duty in exceptional circumstances
- various practical incentives facilitating the preparation of projects and land purchases
Turkey has adopted the larger part of European legislation for energy efficiency. New measures are being prepared to further improve the conditions for investment in sustainable energy and increase the share of renewable sources in this area.
Ambitious goals for 2023
Turkey’s vision on 2023, the Republic’s first centennial anniversary, contains ambitious goals for the sustainable energy sector, including:
- Increasing the share of sustainable energy in the total energy generation to 30 per cent
- Full exploitation of hydropower and increase it to more than twice the current capacity
- Increasing the share of wind-generated energy to 20,000 MW (compared with 1,694 MW in 2010)
- Construction of geo-thermal energy plants with a capacity of 600 MW
- 3.000 MW solar power
- Move Turkey up to a position in the world’s top 10 solar-powered countries
These goals, all aiming at improving the sustainable energy sector and the environment are accompanied by various incentives too attractive to be ignored by potential investors.
Based on the massive interest and involvement of domestic as well as foreign investors in the development of energy and environment technology in Turkey, it may be safely assumed that this tendency will continue in the decades to come.
