State moves forward in renewable energy

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Companies seeking authorization in wind and sun energy must provide the regulator with groundwork data for one year. Hürriyet photo

The Energy Market Regulator (EPDK) has announced measurement requirements for applications for sun and wind energy stations.

Private companies applying for an authorization to build new energy stations must provide the EPDK with wind and sun measurements for six months at a particular location and one year’s worth of experimental data that has been approved by the Turkish State Meteorological Service. Wind measurements will be taken using wind measurement poles at least 60 meters high off the ground at the possible energy station sites, according to the EPDK specifications.

10 million euro investment
EPDK President Hasan Köktaş told Anatolian news agency that the measurements were a critical part of the investment process; after receiving the measurements this year, they plan to accept applications for the sun energy stations.
 
According to Köktaş, the EPDK is initially aiming for an 11,000-megawatt wind energy project that will later be expanded to 20,000 megawatts. For sun energy, the EPDK is projecting a 600-megawatt target, which could be increased to 10,000 megawatts. This would require a roughly 10 million-euro investment in total.

On average 1 megawatt of power can supply electricity to as many as 300 U.S. households per year. According to TurkStat figures, the average person in Turkey consumes 540 kilowatts of electricity in one year.