Abstract
Turkey, like many other countries, has been promoting renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency programs, but the country had a later start than most to initiate a legal and regulatory framework and to develop targeted support programs. A definition of renewables was introduced via an amendment of the electricity law in 2003 but the Renewables Law was not passed until 2005. Significant new wind capacity was added between 2009 and 2011. As of the end of 2011, more than 1,600 MW of installed wind capacity was reported.
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Notes
- 1.
ETKB (2011). The amount of installed capacity at the end of 2010 has been reported at 800, 1,300, 1,400, or 1,500 MW by various sources. The discrepancy may be due to increased construction activity since 2009 with wind farms coming online frequently.
- 2.
DPT (2009).
- 3.
It is worth noting, however, that the safety record of the nuclear industry remains a stellar one when measured by the number of major accidents or fatalities per kWh generated. The challenge faced by the industry is one of risk perceptions and psychology: although the probability of a major accident is minuscule, the impact can be large and dispersed over time in terms of illnesses caused by radiation, invisibility of which is a psychological factor of fear. A “safety culture” must be in place in oversight bodies for public to feel confidence in regulators and operators following safety procedures unfailingly. This kind of confidence existed in Japan but the Fukushima Daiichi accident, coming after a series of mishaps by TEPCO, might have eroded it. The non-transparent relationship between utilities such as TEPCO and the Japanese government is now under scrutiny.
- 4.
2010 Gross National Income (GNI) per capita was $9,500 in Turkey and $38,500 in the Euro area in current US$ (data.worldbank.org). The gap narrows but remains large when purchasing power parity figures are compared: $15,170 in Turkey and $34,111 in the Euro area.
- 5.
Canada, Japan, and Russia withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol and will not sign up for further commitments. Canada has not been able to meet its previous commitments. With the US already out of the picture, EU is not likely to carry any additional burden in controlling emissions, especially when the Euro crisis is straining the economies of member countries. But, even without an extended Kyoto Protocol, Turkey has economic reasons to pursue a less energy-intensive strategy, which will help to keep GHG emissions in check.
- 6.
For example, see McKinsey & Company (2010). Research by McKinsey & Company over the last several years and across several jurisdictions consistently ranked many energy efficiency strategies (e.g., building efficiency improvements, increased mileage for vehicles, more efficient home appliances, switching lighting from incandescent to CFL and LED) as some of the lowest cost GHG abatement options. In fact, many of them have a negative cost; i.e., it actually pays back to pursue these efficiency strategies.
- 7.
For more information, please visit http://www.mta.gov.tr/v2.0/daire-baskanliklari/enerji/index.php?id=jeotermal_potansiyel (last accessed on November 6, 2011).
- 8.
The full list of hydro projects can be found at http://www.eie.gov.tr/HES/index.aspx in a searchable database format (last accessed on October 30, 2011).
- 9.
For more information, please visit http://www.gap.gov.tr/ (last accessed on December 20, 2011).
- 10.
This area and the generation capacity that can be built based on this area are larger than 10 MW, which is a common threshold used to define small hydro facilities eligible for renewable support not just in EU (http://www.energy.eu/) but also worldwide (http://www.small-hydro.com/).
- 11.
All licensing data are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/verilentesistipi.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011). Most licenses are for 49 years but there are some as short as 30 years.
- 12.
License applications are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/uygunuretim.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011).
- 13.
For example, see Kaygusuz (2011).
- 14.
Price Waterhouse Coopers (2009).
- 15.
All licensing data are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/verilentesistipi.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011). Most licenses are for 49 years but there are some as short as 20 years.
- 16.
License applications are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/uygunuretim.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011). .
- 17.
Price Waterhouse Coopers (2009).
- 18.
Kaygusuz (2011).
- 19.
For example, see Table 4.1 in Carter and Campbell (2009).
- 20.
The specifics of this tender process have not been published in regulations at the time of writing; but they will likely be similar to those of the wind tender.
- 21.
Boden and Gümüş 2011.
- 22.
Energy prices and tariffs can be found at http://www.energy.eu/.
- 23.
For example, see the comparison of different technologies at http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=4310 (last accessed on December 28, 2011).
- 24.
For example, see http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/ge-chosen-by-metcap-for-combined-cycle-power-plant-s-technology.html (last accessed on October 2, 2011).
- 25.
All licensing data are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/verilentesistipi.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011). Most licenses are for 29 years but there are some licenses as long as 45 years.
- 26.
All licensing data are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/verilentesistipi.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011). License durations are most variable for biomass facilities; there are some for 49 years but others are for 10, 15, 20, 23, 24 or 30 years.
- 27.
License applications are made available by EPDK at http://www2.epdk.org.tr/lisans/elektrik/lisansdatabase/uygunuretim.asp (last accessed December 22, 2011).
- 28.
An extension can be granted in force majeure situations.
- 29.
Boden and Gümüş (2011).
- 30.
Boden Law Office (2011b).
- 31.
Boden Law Office (2011b).
- 32.
Boden Law Office (2011b).
- 33.
Also, the Turkish government challenged the independence of regulators such as EPDK by subjecting them to audits by the relevant ministry (by issuing the decree having the force of law No. 649 in August 2011). Independent energy regulators have been promoted as the linchpin of success for restructuring energy markets as they would insulate the market against the capriciousness of politicians. In reality, their independence has always been challenged by politicians all over the world since energy, especially electricity, remains a ‘political’ commodity. The Turkish government seems to be explicit about this oversight but this action still raises concerns about the future of the Turkish electricity market.
- 34.
US Energy Information Administration (2010).
- 35.
Back-up needs are discussed further later in this section.
- 36.
Table 6 on page 693.
- 37.
The situation is akin, albeit at a smaller scale, to the extraordinary shrinking of the Aral Lake due to inefficient irrigation of cotton fields in Uzbekistan, a relic of misguided Soviet policy.
- 38.
“WWF and ETİ promote water conservation methods in Konya.” Hürriyet Daily News, April 29, 2010. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=wwf-and-eti-promote-water-conservation-methods-2010-04-29 (last accessed November 6, 2011).
- 39.
There are too many reports to cite but the following articles should be sufficient to demonstrate the severity of the issue: http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/04/feature-01; http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=villagers-protest-hydro-dam-in-northern-turkey-2011-09-25; and http://enerjienstitusu.com/2011/09/22/trabzon-da-koylulerle-hes-calisanlari-birbirine-girdi-7-yarali/ (last accessed on September 25, 2011).
- 40.
http://enerjienstitusu.com/2011/09/24/cevreye-zarar-veren-hesin-kredisi-iptal-edilecek/ (last accessed on September 25, 2011).
- 41.
For example, http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/.
- 42.
For example, see the conflict scenario developed by Uppsala Model United Nations project, UMUN (2009), or the NATO scenario depicted in Lorenz and Erickson (1999).
- 43.
Also see CEE-UT (2009) for the renewables programs in US states, many of which defined locally available resources as eligible for support and resisting regional or national trade of renewable energy certificates.
- 44.
The following web site lists 129 wind turbine manufacturers in 31 countries and 17 US states: http://energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byP/wRP/lwindturbine/byB/mfg/mfg.shtml. The number of main manufacturers is 130 at http://www.thewindpower.net/manufacturers.php but 34 companies have been acquired or do not exist any longer. These lists are not definitive in that companies self-report, some of the companies are subsidiaries of others and not all produce large scale turbines or supply only parts of a wind system; but the lists are also not complete and have been growing (both sites accessed on October 11, 2011). The solar industry is no different with many countries joining the ranks of solar manufacturers practically every day.
- 45.
“US Solar Panel Makers Petition Govt. to Investigate Chinese Solar Subsidies, Dumping.” Power Magazine, October 19, 2011 http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/4113.html (accessed on October 23, 2011).
- 46.
Many companies in the US and Europe are said to shut down facilities or declare bankruptcy having failed to compete with Chinese solar manufacturers, which lowered the cost of PV panels at least partially due to generous subsidies from the Chinese government. See Gülen (2011b) for a more detailed discussion.
- 47.
For example, in late 2010, the United Steelworkers filed a complaint accusing China of violating WTO rules by providing subsidies to its clean-energy sector and supporting it with local content policies (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704644404575481743747170692.html). In September 2010 Japan complained to WTO about Ontario’s green energy program and its local content requirements (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/ontario-clean-power-subsidies-draw-wto-challenge-from-japan/article1705239/). Both sites last accessed on October 23, 2011.
- 48.
MTBE is considered a potential human carcinogen although “To date, independent expert review groups who have assessed MTBE inhalation health risks (e.g., Interagency Assessment of Oxygenated Fuels) have not concluded that the use of MTBE-oxygenated gasoline poses an imminent threat to public health…EPA's Office of Water has concluded that available data are not adequate to estimate potential health risks of MTBE at low exposure levels in drinking water but that the data support the conclusion that MTBE is a potential human carcinogen at high doses.” (http://www.epa.gov/mtbe/water.htm last accessed on December 19, 2011). .
- 49.
It is also questionable whether corn-ethanol provides any net environmental benefits in terms of reducing emissions. For a more detailed assessment of the US corn-ethanol policy, see Gülen and Shenoy (2007).
- 50.
For example, see Medlock and Soligo (2001).
- 51.
ABB (2011).
- 52.
In current US$ based on the Atlas method used by the World Bank (data.worldbank.org).
- 53.
The discussion in this paragraph is based on ABB (2011).
- 54.
The discussion in this paragraph is based on ABB (2011).
- 55.
Based on IEA (2010a) and Onaygil (2010). A complete list of documents that define the energy efficiency regulatory framework can be found at http://www.eie.gov.tr/duyurular/EV/mevzuat/EV_mevzuat.html (last accessed on November 22, 2011).
- 56.
Certificates will be valid for 10 years with an initial period of three years to collect all data and measurements, inspections every two years. Engineers or architects designing new buildings will issue the certificates. For existing buildings, the local utilities will issue the certificate until 2017. They all need to be licensed by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement.
- 57.
Commercial and service buildings having either 20,000 m2 or more construction area or 1,000 ton oil equivalent (toe) or more total energy consumption annually; and governmental buildings with either 10,000 m2 or more construction area or 250 toe or more total energy consumption annually. Those consuming more than 50,000 toe are required to establish an energy management unit, significantly larger undertaking than having an energy manager.
- 58.
Roughly $270,000 at the exchange rate of 0.54 US$/TL (November 22, 2011).
- 59.
IEA (2010a).
- 60.
http://www.ebrd.com/pages/news/press/2011/110513b.shtml (last accessed on November 19, 2011).
- 61.
http://www.oe-eb.at/en/projects/financing-projects/Pages/energy-efficiency-turkey.aspx (last accessed on November 19, 2011).
- 62.
http://www.undp.org.tr/Gozlem2.aspx?WebSayfaNo=2228 (last accessed on November 19, 2011).
- 63.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html (last accessed on November 20, 2011).
- 64.
- 65.
The site is within 200 km of Ceyhan, where a large oil terminal handles crude oil flowing from both Iraq and Azerbaijan. Ceyhan can become even a larger regional energy hub with more oil and gas from Iraq, the Caspian region and Russia flowing to its terminals in the future. Multiple projects including pipelines, refineries, and even LNG export terminals have been considered over the years to enlarge Ceyhan as an energy hub.
- 66.
Boden Law Office (2011a).
- 67.
Boden Law Office (2011a).
- 68.
Besides the opposition by local communities, the biggest challenge faced by nuclear plants in the US and some European countries is financing of large capital investment. This challenge is particularly difficult in competitive markets such as Turkey, Texas, PJM and the UK among others. Regulated markets can absorb the cost in their rate base if the regulators, and the society in general, are convinced of the need for nuclear power.
- 69.
For example, “Building of Turkey’s First Nuclear Plant, Sited on a Fault Line, Facing Fresh Questions,” Reuters, March 25, 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/idUS196920289020110325 (last accessed on October 9, 2011).
- 70.
Boden Law Office (2011a).
- 71.
Boden Law Office (2011c).
- 72.
Professor Tolga Yarman, who has a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT and served in the committee that provided the initial license for the Akkuyu site in 1976, is now a staunch opponent of the site. One of the former directors of TAEK, Dr. Cengiz Yalçın, is concerned about the lack of transparency about some safety design elements. For details, see Güsten (2011) and Özbek (2011).
- 73.
Electricity prices were taken from IEA (2011).
- 74.
Based on IHS CERA European Power Capital Costs Index, available at http://www.ihsindexes.com/ (last accessed on December 19, 2011). .
- 75.
EPDK (2011).
- 76.
EPDK (2010 ).
- 77.
Erdoğdu (2007) underlines the necessity of eliminating this culture of secrecy when it comes to communicating transparently about the risks and benefits of nuclear power, and how the risks will be managed. Without the public trust, nuclear facilities cannot be built; or if they are forced, the public backlash can cost elections or high level positions as witnessed in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
- 78.
EDAM (2011).
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Atiyas, I., Çetin, T., Gülen, G. (2012). Alternative Energy Options for Turkey. In: Reforming Turkish Energy Markets. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0290-9_4
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