EBRD backs Turkey’s Akfen Renewables with loans of over $100 mln

ISTANBUL

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said it is providing a financing package of up to $102 million to the renewable energy arm of the Turkish conglomerate Akfen Holding.

In a statement on Sept. 11, the Bank said the funds will be invested in building four new wind farms and nine solar PV plants with a combined capacity of 327 MW.

“The new financing demonstrates the EBRD’s commitment to the Turkish economy and confidence in the fundamental momentum behind the global shift to renewable energy,” the Bank also noted.

Akfen Renewables, or Akfen Yenilenebilir Enerji as it is known in Turkey, owns and operates wind, solar and hydro power plants. The EBRD and the IFC, a private sector arm of the World Bank, are minority shareholders in the company with a 15.98 percent stake each.

The company is now investing in four new wind farms with a total capacity of 242 MW: Üçpınar (99 MW), Kocalar (26 MW) and Hasanoba (51 MW) in Çanakkale, a province in north-western Turkey on the Dardanelles Strait, and Denizli (66 MW) in the eponymous province in the south west of the country, according to the statement.

“The wind farms will be rated and certified annually with regards to their environmental, social and governance performance by Vigeo-Eiris rating agency. Once operational they are expected to save around 340,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year,” read the statement.

For nine new solar photovoltaic plants in five locations across Turkey, the EBRD is lending up to $52 million and the combined capacity of the new solar PV plants will be 85MW, according to the statement.

“With the projects that we will realize, we are taking firm steps towards our aim to reach a total installed capacity of 1,000 MW in clean energy generation by 2020. We will continue to make new investments and potential acquisitions, especially in the wind power sector, in the forthcoming period,” said Akfen Renewables CEO Kayrıl Karabeyoğlu.

In line with its renewable energy action plan developed by the country’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources with the support of the EBRD, Turkey aims to install 27 GW of non-hydro renewable generation capacity by 2023, 20 GW of which is expected to be wind and 5 GW licensed solar.