Turkish renewable energy companies investing abroad

ISTANBUL

Turkish companies are increasingly entering foreign markets for renewable energy investments, an expert has said.

Turkish construction companies, which build and own solar and wind power facilities, and Turkish energy companies have been investing in foreign countries, including Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, Italy, France, Germany and the U.K, said Ali Rıza Öner from 4T Platform.

Turkish companies are likely to expand their renewable energy operations into the U.S. and African nations, he added.

Renewable investments across the world will increase as the global economic outlook is expected to improve and more loans will be made available, Öner predicts.

He also said that the size of the Turkish renewable energy equipment production industry has reached 1.5 billion euros.

Including the production of wind turbines and related equipment, the local wind power industry provides jobs to more than 25,000 people, according to Öner.

Some 85 percent of the companies operating in the renewable energy equipment manufacturing sector export their products, he said.

The government’s Renewable Energy Support Scheme (YEKDEM) initiative has been widened in scope to cover other renewable energy sources, Öner said.

“Power will be generated from streams and waves… Offshore wind farms will be built along the coasts of the Marmara and Aegean regions and some parts of the Black Sea region.”

He noted that incentives provided for renewable energy investments have been extended making such investments attractive for companies.

Öner, who is also the business development director at the waste management company ITC, called for government support for generating energy from waste. “Such facilities should be covered by YEKDEM,” he said.

Increasing share of renewables

Türkiye has been investing heavily in renewable energy in the past year, boosting the share of clean energy in power generation.

The country’s total solar power installed capacity surpassed 10,000 megawatts.

In terms of installed capacity in solar power, Türkiye, which was rather a latecomer, ranks fifth in Europe and 12th in the world.

Solar, wind, geothermal and biomass now constitute more than 20 percent of the country’s installed energy capacity.

Renewables constitute more than 50 percent of Türkiye’s total installed capacity, around 40 percent to 45 percent of electricity is generated from renewable energy resources.