Solar Power Tenders in Turkey
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Establishment of solar powers with a view to operating in electricity market is regulated in Electricity Market Code (the “Code”) law no. 6446.
As per the Code, legal entities must obtain license as Article 5 of the Code defines license as “the permit given to legal entities for them to make market operations registered on it as per the provisions of this code”. Furthermore, obtaining a pre-license is a prerequisite for license. As per Article 6 of the Code:
“Firstly, in order to initiate investment for production plant, a time limit shall be given by the Authority [Energy Market Regulatory Authority (“EMRA”)] to the legal entity which applies for production license to obtain permit, approval, license and so forth arise from legislation and to acquire right of possession or usage of the area where the production plant shall be established…”
Application for Pre-License and Tender Process
There are three steps on the way to obtain a pre-license:
1. EMRA accepts the pre-license application for evaluation,
2. Once the application is accepted, then a connection opinion shall be received from The Turkish Power Transmission Company (“TEIAS”) and/or the relevant transmission company,
3. A positive technical evaluation report is received from Renewable Energy General Administration under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
In the event there are numerous pre-license applications for the same connection capacity and/or area, TEIAS shall organize a tender for selecting the power plant which shall obtain a pre-license. The subject tender is regulated by the By-law on Tenders Related to Pre-license Applications for Establishing a Production Plant Based on Wind and Solar Power (the “By-law”).
As per the By-law, the applications which are notified to TEIAS by EMRA are promulgated as Solar Power Plant projects. TEIAS publishes the tenderers’ connection area and/or connection point and voltage level along with the tenderers’ installed capacity and the place, date and time of the tender on its website. Subsequently, TEİAS sends the applicants an invitation letter and the tenderers send their proposals to the address designated at the time determined by TEIAS.
The tender is held by a commission organized by TEIAS. The commission consists of one president and at least four full members provided that they are among TEIAS personnel. Furthermore, in the case a full member(s) is/are not available, at least two more substitute members shall be determined in order to supersede the full member(s). All the proposals are subject to sealed bid tender and the amount of the proposal must be stated explicitly in figures and in written in terms of Turkish Lira. In the case of a discrepancy between the amount stated in figures and in written, the written amount shall be taken into consideration.
The results of the tender are notified to EMRA by TEIAS. Technical characteristics of the connection line are designated by TEIAS and/or the relevant distribution company. Following the tender, the names and proposal amount of the non-participating, participant but the documents of which are invalid or deficient company/companies and the company/ companies which propose(s) the highest contribution amount along with the other matters deemed necessary by the commission are notified to EMRA by TEIAS within thirty days.
Latest News from Turkey
In 2014, EMRA granted pre-license to two investors for solar power plants in Turkey for the first time. Halk Enerji was granted pre-license for the solar power plant with an installed capacity of 4.9 MW which is to be established in Erzurum. After Halk Enerji, Solentegre Enerji Yatırımları San.Tic.A.Ş. which is an affiliate of Asunim Türkiye obtained pre-license for 8-MW plant which is to established in Elazig.
AUTHOR: Ketenci & Ketenci
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Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
