Turkey will be able to obtain 50% of its energy from renewable energy by 2023!

According to Soner Aksoy, the president of the Turkish Parliament Industrial, Commercial, Energy, Natural Sources, Information and Technology Commission, and also the deputy who proposed the Bill of Renewable Energy, Turkey can obtain 50% of its energy consumption from renewable energy by 2023.
Soner Aksoy stated that the current law of “Renewable Energy” had been drafted in 2005 and in accordance to the knowledge of 2004, and that they drew a new bill in order to update the original bill because it did not address 2009 matters.

In contrast to the current law, this bill of renewable energy supports many different fields. In addition, different incentive systems are brought for each field, and guarantees of purchase are constituted at different rates.
Aksoy posits that this law is anticipated to be given incentives in the field of renewable energy and despite that it may be thwarted by Minister of Economy Ali Babacan on the pretense that it will upset the Turkish economic equilibrium, the law will be discussed in parliament again this August. He expressed his hopes of this law proposal being approved by parliament in the following months and then legalized.

Aksoy stated that during the same time period that the renewable energy law is expected to be issued, an extensive incentive law is also anticipated to be issued and that from this a synergy will be created. This synergy will materialize investments from domestic and foreign companies alike in Turkey in various fields of renewable energy. Thus, numerous investors in Turkey and around the world are anticipating this proposal’s approval by parliament.

The European Union raised objections to this law proposal, Aksoy said, and the reason for this objection was that, as stated in the law proposal, domestic manufacturers in the fields that will be given incentive will be supported and in addition the energy production will be supported. He stated that they could solve this matter by either obtaining approval from the EU or changing the word “domestic” to “that which is produced in Turkey” in the context of the proposal.

According to Aksoy, Turkey has a very high potential in the field of renewable energy. Turkey has a 49,000 MW potential in wind energy, and particularly in solar and hydroelectric energy, it is a country with high returns on renewable energy investments. He said by supporting this sector in Turkey, 30% of Turkey’s energy consumption could be obtained by renewable energy sources by 2023 and that 50% of energy demand can be met by renewable energy, except from large water sources.