TÜREB/Erden: €15 Billion Investment in Wind Energy Installed Capacity

Foreks - The TÜREB Financial Institution Stakeholders meeting was attended by nearly 150 industry professionals, including representatives from public institutions, turbine manufacturers, blade manufacturers, tower manufacturers, engineering firms, banks, consultancy companies, logistics companies, civil society organizations, investors, and industrialists.

€15 BILLION INVESTED IN WIND ENERGY INSTALLED CAPACITY TÜREB President İbrahim Erden stated that approximately €15 billion has been invested in Turkey's wind energy installed capacity: “Ten years ago, Western turbine suppliers dominated 55% of the global wind energy market, while today they hold only 36% of the turbine market. Factors such as expansionary monetary policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, rising energy prices, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have led to increased global inflation rates, prompting many central banks to raise interest rates to ensure price stability. The additional increase in borrowing costs, along with the rising country risk premium in Turkey, merged with the end of the YEKDEM-1 period in 2021, resulting in a significant contraction in investment volume. On the other hand, despite changing financial conditions, our operating wind energy installed capacity currently stands at about 12,900 MW with an investment of around €15 billion, while our total project portfolio, including licensed storage projects and others, exceeds 24,000 MW. Furthermore, the 2035 Renewable Energy Vision announced by our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources aims to reach an installed wind energy capacity of 50,000 MW by 2035. It is an undeniable fact that, given the current context of Turkey's CDS values returning to relatively normal levels and with the FED and ECB starting to cut interest rates, we will require double the financing received to date over the next few years to actualize the 24 GW of investments that have received preliminary licenses/licenses.”

Erden also stated that the purpose of organizing the 2nd TÜREB Financial Institution Stakeholders Meeting is to better understand the financing needs of renewable energy projects and to create a strong dialogue platform between financial institutions and our sector: “We have 32 valuable bankers representing 26 different banks, 12 representatives from different financial institutions, and approximately 30 members from TÜREB's Board of Directors and Audit Committee among us. Moreover, we form a strong participant group of nearly 150, including top executives, financial managers, and other representatives from public institution representatives and investor members. Recently, significant legislative regulations concerning the development of renewable energy that impact our sector are being implemented. These regulations aim to strengthen the sector and further integrate renewable energy into the grid and market system. To summarize briefly;             •           With the Regulation on Collecting Activities, flexibility in the market has been increased by encouraging participation from the demand side.             •           The amendments to the Storage Activities Regulation have enabled the integration of storage production facilities.             •           Amendments to the Network and Ancillary Services Regulation have introduced innovations such as frequency sensitivity modes and reactive power support services. These regulations aim to make the sector more competitive while accelerating the system integration of renewable energy,” he explained.