TURKEY STREAMLINES SOLAR POWER PLANT RULES

Turkey’s Small Solar Plant Rules to Spur Boom in Installations
Marc Roca, February 29, 2012 (Bloomberg News)

"Turkey decision to simplify the process for developing solar power projects of up to 500 kilowatts will spur a boom in installations, the industry’s main lobby group said…[New legislation] allows the plants to start production without getting a license…Projects of this size can power about 700 homes…Rules for bigger projects are due next year.

"Developers are likely to add as much as 1,100 megawatts in photovoltaic capacity by the end of 2014…This compares with the 3 megawatts installed so far in the country…Turkey passed renewable energy legislation in December 2010 that fixed feed-in tariffs, or premium rates for clean energy. That included a plan to develop 600 megawatts in photovoltaic capacity by 2015. The country aims to generate 30 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2023…"

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"Solar companies including Germany’s Phoenix Solar AG (PS4) and Gehrlicher Solar AG are already joining with local companies to get a foot in the market. Phoenix signed an exclusive partnership with Ires Enerji in January, and Gehrlicher established a joint venture with Merk, a unit of Istanbul-based energy group Akfel Group, on Feb. 1…

"The country pays a feed-in tariff of $133 per megawatt hour of solar power. That’s less than a third of the average Greek tariff and half of what Italy pays. Plant owners can earn an additional premium of as much as $67 per megawatt if components are made locally… 4 megawatts to 5 megawatts in new installations [are expected] this year, 50 megawatts to 100 megawatts next year and as many as 1,000 megawatts in 2014. Utility scale projects cannot be built until 2014…"