Turkish government approves feed-in tariff

After months of speculation surrounding the country’s solar feed-in tariff, Turkey has now made photovoltaic power generation subsidy payments law. Under the regulation, payments for renewable energy generation will be determined as dollar cent, as opposed to Euro cent, in Turkish Parliament.

Accordingly, prices for RES plants are as follows:

Solar: US$13.3 cents,
Biomass (including landfill gas): US$13.3 cents
Geothermal: US$10.5 cents
Hydroelectric: US$7.3 cents
Wind energy: US$7.3 cents

The feed-in tariff will also support concentrated solar power (CSP) and hybrid power plants.

These prices will be applied for ten years to those which apply for RES between May 18, 2005 and December 31, 2015. For companies beginning operation later than December 31, 2015, the FiT rates will be determined by the Council of Ministers.

Taner Yildiz, Energy and Natural Resources Minister said, “Turkey's climate and also political stability are suitable for RES investments.”

The licensing will be arranged by the supervisory Energy Market Regulatory Board, taking into consideration of Interior Ministry, Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, and also State Hydraulic Works’ opinions.

Further, if the products utilized for the plants carry the ‘Made in Turkey’ stamp, additional credit will be given for five years after the facility's establishing date. This support will be applied from US$0.4 to 2.4/kWh.

There is however a 600MW cap in place up until December 31, 2013. For applications later than that date, the Council of Ministers will be authorized to determine total installed power.

For the first decade, 85% discount will be applied for the power grid permission, lease, easement and certificate of occupancy fees for the facilities which will be established until December 31, 2015.