Solar Turkey

Much ado has been made of the great solarization of Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, but Turkey has made some sun-powered progress too. And the most recent development in the south is also the country’s largest.

 

Solimpeks is in the process of installing a 500kWp photovoltaic plant on Mercan Mermer’s roof. A well-established stone manufacturing plant in Burdur, the company commissioned the rooftop array in order to reduce its operating costs. All prepped with mounting sets, the roof awaits 2,120 Panasonic HIT N235 modules, which are expected to produce a total of 900,000 kWh of clean energy every year.

 

Most countries in the Middle East and North Africa region that have installed large scale solar plants have turned to either Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) or hybrid systems that rely on natural gas to buttress CSP. There’s Kuraymat in Egypt and the recently inaugurated Shams 1 just outside of Abu Dhabi.

 

Saudi Arabia recently completed a tiny 3.5MW PV plant as baby steps towards its overall plan to spend a whopping $109 billion on solar by 2032.

But photovoltaic technology has come a long way since Egypt and Abu Dhabi first commissioned their CSP plants.

 

Panasonic’s HIT N235 modules are particularly well-suited to hot climates and boast an improved cell efficiency up to 21.6 percent. New anti-reflection glass reduces scattering of incoming light and these modules are designed to soak up more of the morning and evening sun.

 

Solimpeks has recently entered into a new agreement to distribute Panasonic products in Turkey and the Mercan Mermer plant is their first gig. They started big.

 

Commissioned in April for an estimated May completion date, the PV array will cost in the region of €850,000. And unlike residential systems that allow homeowners to feed energy back into the grid, the stone factory is expected to use every watt for its own operations.

 

“The project has been designed to maximise energy usage rather than attract FiT [Feed in Tariffs,]” Solimpeks Director Daniel Barber told Green Prophet. ”We would envisage that MM uses all solar generated energy.”

 

With 35 years experience in the solar industry, Solimpeks is no newcomer to the field. In addition to various solar thermal projects, they are presently promoting their new hybrid Solar PV and Thermal technology - PowerVolt & PowerTherm.

 

We can expect to see more of them in Turkey, and hopefully elsewhere in the region. The solar industry is officially on fire.

Saudi Arabia is going to export solar energy to Europe via Turkey, the Turkish Sabah newspaper reported on Saturday with reference to a source in the Energy Ministry of Turkey.

 

According to the newspaper, currently negotiations are underway between the governments of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

 

Saudi Arabia intends to export solar energy through two routes - through Turkey to Europe, and through North Africa to Spain and Italy.

 

Earlier, Vice President of Renewable Energy of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al Sulaiman said that the issue of export of solar energy to Europe is under consideration.

ClearSky Advisors finds that cumulative installations are poised to surpass 4 GW by the end of 2017 in its recently released report covering Turkey’s solar PV market. Recent decreases in installed costs and high electricity prices paid by large electricity customers will drive PV demand without the need for additional incentives.

 

Solar PV activity in Turkey has recently reached a frantic pace in anticipation of near-term growth. In June of this year, Turkey’s Electricity Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) will begin accepting bids for PV production licenses for projects larger than 1 MW. A total of 600 MW of licenses is expected to be awarded by the end of 2013. Although these projects would represent a significant amount of solar PV capacity, many industry participants are looking toward unlicensed PV production – available to projects smaller than 1 MW – as the biggest opportunity.

 

Introduced in 2005 and amended several times since then, Law#5346 “Law on Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources For the Purpose of Generating Electrical Energy” includes provisions that allow for electricity consumers to offset their electricity bills through the installation of a solar PV system smaller than 1MW. Given the high tariff rates paid by large electricity consumers in Turkey and the recent decreases in installed costs that allow for commercial-scale systems to be installed for under $2.00/W, this legislation has garnered significant attention.

 

Large electricity customers in Turkey (those that consume more than 25,000 kWh annually) can choose to pay the regulated tariff set by the Turkish Electricity Distribution Company (TEDAS), or bypass the distribution network and purchase electricity either from the spot market or directly from electricity producers. While bypassing TEDAS typically affords consumers 10%-15% savings on their electricity bill, spot market prices can still reach as high as $0.23/kWh. At these rates the economic incentive afforded by installing a commercial-scale PV system is significant, and many are clamouring to take advantage of the potential savings.

 

The Turkish solar photovoltaic (PV) market is being driven by the competitive cost of solar power more than by other incentives, Solarbuzz (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) explains.

 

The latest market developments in Turkey support Solarbuzz’ recent forecast for 2013 PV demand, as featured in ‘Marketbuzz 2013’, of approximately 100 megawatts (MW). This forecast is based upon the emerging competitive economic terms being recognized, Solarbuzz notes.

 

Electricity purchase avoidance is driving private company investments

PV installations within Turkey are being realized according to the terms of February 2012 legislation exempting production license requirements for installations less than 500 kW, a limit soon to be raised to 1 MW.

 

High solar insolation (1,900 Peak Sun Hours/Year) and low installed system prices (including 15% margin to the sole provider) help deliver a remarkable PV LCOE (assuming 6% discount rate), Solarbuzz states. Electricity purchase avoidance aims are currently driving private company investments.

More than 4GW of solar and wind generation could be licensed in Turkey by the end of 2014, after an initial tender for photovoltaic licences is held in June, sources linked to the renewable sector told ICIS.

 

Some 600MW of solar generation will be tendered in the first round, to be held later this year, and companies interested to invest in the sector will be able to submit their applications between 10-14 June.

But ICIS understands that Turkish regulator EMRA is considering organising a later tender for 2GW of solar generation and possibly for another 2GW of wind generation by 2014. A source at the regulator confirmed that another tender for wind licences would follow.

 

In a study published by consultancy Deloitte this month, Turkey is identified as the country with the highest solar potential in Europe, surpassing Spain, Germany or the Czech Republic.

 

However, Turkey does not currently have any photovoltaic generation, and boasts only an estimated 2GW of wind production, although the country aims to generate 30% of its energy from renewable resources by 2023.

 

Turkey has comparatively low incentive levels for solar generation, offering €100/MWh, compared with a comparable feed-in tariff of €135/MWh in Germany. But Deloitte sees Turkey as one of the most attractive places for photovoltaic investments with economic growth and soaring energy demand.

In addition, the government offers bonuses to companies purchasing local equipment to bolster local production, which cover a period of five years.

Perspectives and key drivers of solar power at grid parity conditions in Turkey were one of the major subjects at the international energy congress "Energy Is Future (EIF)" 2012 in Ankara on October, 5th.

 

AEE Renewables was grateful to be invited to speak about "financing renewable energy investments in Turkey" and sharing a platform with the country heads of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Cooperation (IFC), the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) and the Turkish Chinese Friendship Foundation. Highlighting the potential for renewable energy deployment in Turkey without any form of subsidy and the positive attitude by foreign investors to commit capital to these projects, Dr. Niels Kroener (aee renewables Executive Chairman) also highlighted the obstacles in electricity market regulation. Sinan Ak, General Manager of Zorlu Enerji and moderator of the panel, echoed this in his summary calling on EPDK and the Energy Ministry to "set investors free". AEE's presentation also described how AEE offered Turkish companies a high-quality but very competitive turnkey solution for solar PV and hydro installations with the potential to get up to 100% financing.

Turkey which is foreign dependent to a huge extent in energy is taking significant steps regarding “renewable energy.”

Recently, I have noticed that I am coming across visionary people more frequently who invest in “renewable energy” in a wide spectrum from geothermal to wind energy.

One of them is engineer Serdar Erturan who has worked in the solar energy sector of the United States for long years.

An expert in thermodynamics, Serdar Erturan, has been involved, for the past 15 years, with Research and Development and design in companies operating in the field of solar energy. For the past seven years, he has focused on the concentrated solar power (CSP) system that can only be found in the United States, Spain and Israel.

Then one day, he has got a mad idea of, adopting the CPS system that is installed at the top of a tower built by light material, “on Turkey which is located on the world’s important solar belt.”

Erturan’s Turkey venture began with Yılsan Holding noticing and appreciating his “CPS Solar Tower” project. Yılsan Holding has a 60-year past operating in hydroelectric, wind and geothermal fields in Turkey.

Erturan and Yılsan Holding first founded the Greenway Company that would conduct the project, and then they start searching for a location to erect the tower.

This part of the story is quite interesting because Erturan started locating hunting in sunny spots in Turkey.

He visits the organized industrial zones in Antalya, Adana, Isparta, Karaman and Burdur and techno parks in universities in vain.

Turkey's largest solar power plant with a capacity of 500 kilowatts was built in the province of Burdur, Zaman newspaper reported on Tuesday.

 

The plant was built under a Turkish-Japanese joint venture and owned by Turkish Seiso Enerji A.S and Japanese Panasonic. Production at the plant located in an area of 2500 square kilometres will start by the end of this year.

The solar power plant will serve the Mercan Mermer A.S Company for the production of marble.

 

According to the newspaper, Turkey which has recently been focused on the production of electricity from renewable energy sources has issued some more licenses for the construction of solar power plants. The country plans to complete the construction of several solar power plants with a total capacity of 70 MW by the end of this year.

 

In early 2014, Turkey will also start construction of solar power plants with a total capacity of 600 megawatts.

 

Earlier, the Turkish government stated that private sector projects aimed at producing electricity from renewable energy sources will be partially funded by the state.

urkey expects "huge" investments in renewable power in the next 10 years as growth in energy demand outpaces economic expansion, a government official said

Turkey needs to spend $10 billion on new power generation every year until 2023 to double capacity from the current 55 gigawatts, Deputy Energy Minister Hasan Murat Mercan said today at a conference in Vienna. 

“We expect huge investments in the coming years” to fund projects in wind, solar, hydropower, biomass and geothermal energy, he said. “Investing in renewables is one of the most important aspects” of supporting economic growth, he said.

 

Turkey, which depends on fossil-fuel imports for about 90 percent of its energy needs, has lured international investors including General Electric Co. and Siemens AG to its power industry as the regulator forecasts annual demand growth of 6.3 percent in the next two decades. The country is bucking the trend of most emerging European nations, where retail electricity consumption is trailing growth in incomes.

 

GE, which has already opened the 22.5-megawatt Sares wind farm and 10-megawatt Karadag site, said in November it would also supply turbines to Fina Enerji Holding AS for 97 megawatts of projects. Siemens said in October it would supply turbines to a 50-megawatt wind farm and expects more Turkish orders.

 

Turkey has potential to install about 40,000 megawatts of wind-power capacity at onshore projects, with 11,000 megawatts already licensed, Mercan said today.

China Sunergy Co. (CSUN) has opened a solar facility in Istanbul, Turkey with Turkish partner Seul Energy Investment Corp. The first 150MW solar module line will begin production this month.

 

The other 100MW cell line in the new facility will begin production in March this year. According to Seul Energy, CSUN is also planning on moving additional 200MW of equipment to Turkey from the facilities in Shanghai in the first quarter of 2013 and to gradually ramp up production. This plan is nevertheless subject to market dynamics and the Turkish plant's production progress.

 

The new facility is in the Trade Free Zone in Istanbul and CSUN expects the plant to create over 1,200 jobs locally. They also expect Turkey to become the second largest manufacturing base for the company after China.

 

The two companies signed agreements to invest jointly in three newly established companies under the name CSUN Eurasia to produce PV cells and modules in Turkey and to invest in downstream solar projects in the country and the region around.

 

Stephen Cai, CEO of China Sunergy commented, "We are delighted to see our facilities in Turkey established and ready for production. Solar projects in Turkey enjoy higher feed-in tariffs when adopting locally manufactured cells and modules. Therefore, we believe our cooperation with the strong local partner SEUL Energy will help us capture substantial market share in the region.

 

Cagri Seymen, Chairman of SEUL Energy noted that Turkey’s energy demand has dramatically increased over the past decade and that it is poised to become the next new solar energy dynamo in the region.

 

As the Turkish government drums up support for investment in renewable energy, international firms continue to face significant challenges in conducting environmental impact studies, securing funding and acquiring licences.

Turkish officials have undertaken a number of efforts to encourage support for investments in renewables, such as sending representatives abroad to meet with prospective international investors and amending the renewables law.

The law, a revised version of which was passed by parliament in 2010 based on an original document from 2005, set standardised prices for energy produced by renewable methods, ensuring the products remained economically viable despite global price fluctuations.

 

The regulations ensured renewable energy firms would receive a price of $0.073 per KW-hour for hydroelectric power and wind energy, $0.105 for geothermal energy and $0.133 for energy from waste products and solar energy. Recent amendments to the regulations have included strengthening the feed-in tariff mechanism, which the state has now structured to obligate power companies to first seek their electricity supplies from renewables providers.

 

These efforts have not gone unnoticed, and several companies have already made headway in the segment. Local firm Alto Holding, for example, recently raised $165m in venture capital for construction of a wind farm in Karaburun. The wind farm is expected to generate some 120 MW of energy but its completion date is unclear. Global conglomerate GE, meanwhile, announced in early November that it would provide Fina Enerji, a Turkish energy developer, with 43 wind turbines for four new projects, which are expected to add some 97 MW of energy capacity. And Germany-based Gehrlicher Solar is seeking a joint venture with local firm Merk Solar Enerji to install some 540 KW of solar modules.