Rooftop solar panels
Business Model Description
Investments in rooftop solar energy panels for domestic or commercial use
Expected Impact
This IOA will increase the share of renewable resources in the domestic energy portfolio and contribute to energy security while reducing energy-related CO2 emissions.
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Turkey: Southeastern Anatolia Region
- Turkey: Mediterranean Region
Sector Classification
Renewable Resources and Alternative Energy
Development need
According to the Sustainable Development Report Dashboard 2020, significant challenges remain in Turkey's performance on SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). Major challenges remain in the country’s performance on SDG 13 (Climate Action); major challenges remain in particular with regards to CO2 emissions from energy and the effective carbon rate.
Policy priority
The 2020 Annual Presidential Program highlights that Turkey is an energy-dependent country with a growing electricity demand. It suggests that the import-dependency should be solved through switching to sustainable alternatives. The 11th Development Plan and the SDG VNR also address this goal of securing a stable supply of energy and reducing carbon emissions
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Globally, female employment in the energy sector is around 22%, while the renewable energy sector employs about 32% women. Even within renewables, women’s participation in STEM jobs is far lower than in administrative jobs. (20) In the developing world, 1/7 people lack electricity, especially in rural areas. (21) Providing alternative energy options that are off-the-grid can increase the coverage rate of the rural population and provide cheaper alternatives
Investment opportunities
Turkey ranks 5th in energy consumption in Europe. Yet, the country meets almost 73% of its energy requirements from external sources.Turkey has a great natural potential for solar, wind and geothermal energy. It has a localization objective of obtaining 30% of energy from renewables by 2023. This area is largely privatized & supported by various government incentives (19)
Key bottlenecks
With its growing population and economy, Turkey has an increasing demand on energy. Although succesful incentive mechanisms and regulatory changes have been adopted, they are mostly geared towards large-scale energy projects. Supporting small-scale renewable energy projects and renewable energy cooperatives in a way that is compatible with market conditions is essential.
Alternative Energy
Development need
Turkey's demand for electricity has been growing at an annual rate of 5%, above the global average of 3% (2). There is a need to increase the share of renewable resources in total electricity production to meet the rising demand sustainably, and utilize domestic production capacities to decrease the dependency on energy imports
Policy priority
Addressing this energy demand through alternative energy production is a goal delineated by the 2020 Annual Presidential Program, the 11th Development Plan and the SDG Voluntary National Review
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Globally, female employment in the energy sector is around 22%, while the renewable energy sector employs about 32% women. Even within renewables, women’s participation in STEM jobs is far lower than in administrative jobs. (20) In the developing world, 1/7 people lack electricity, especially in rural areas. (21) Providing alternative energy options that are off-the-grid can increase the coverage rate of the rural population and provide cheaper alternatives
Investment opportunities
Turkey ranks 5th in energy consumption in Europe. Turkey has an average annual solar radiation of 1527 kW·h/(m²·yr).(19) The country can utilize solar energy far above its current usage metrics. Moreover, recent regulatory changes have also paved the way for individual usage by allowing roof-top producers to sell excess energy back to the grid
Key bottlenecks
With its growing population and economy, Turkey has an increasing demand on energy. Although succesful incentive mechanisms and regulatory changes have been adopted, they are mostly geared towards large-scale energy projects. Supporting small-scale renewable energy projects and renewable energy cooperatives in a way that is compatible with market conditions is essential.
Solar Technology and Project Developers
Pipeline Opportunity
Rooftop solar panels
Investments in rooftop solar energy panels for domestic or commercial use
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
Installed capacity of solar power in the country
Turkey had 42 GW of installed renewable power at the end of 2018, and this is set to increase by 50% between 2019 and 2024 to reach around 63 GW by 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (6).
Turkey has 274 rooftop solar energy facilities and 5721 solar farms. It has 6 GW of installed power for rooftop solar facilities and solar farms for self-consumption (7).
Solar energy facilities for commercial use have a total market sizing of 5995 MW in Turkey, 4.6% of this is constituted by rooftop solar energy (7).
Indicative Return
15% - 20%
Investments in rooftop solar energy systems for self-consumption generate an IRR of 16.41% to 18.12% (7).
Licensed solar energy facilities for commercial use without an incentive scheme or public procurement yield an IRR of 10.5% without energy storage systems.(7)
Licensed solar energy facilities for commercial use obtained through public procurements with applicable incentive schemes have an IRR of 8%. (7)
Investment Timeframe
Medium Term (5–10 years)
Due to the reduction in installation costs, solar energy production for self-consumption provides financial returns in 4 to 6 years for installations of 500 kW and above, 6-8 years for installations of 10-500 kW, and 7 to 9 years for installations of 0-10 kW (7).
With no public procurement process or incentive, solar energy facilities for commercial use without energy storage systems provide financial returns in 7 years. (7)
The returns for solar energy models obtained through public tenders are accumulated over 9 years. The returns are issued in 9 years for small YEKA tenders. (7)
Ticket Size
USD 500,000 - USD 1 million
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Business - Supply Chain Constraints
Market - Volatile
Combined factors, as explained in 8.2
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
Energy is the main contributor to climate change, it produces around 60 percent of greenhouse gases. (8) Solar energy generates just 20 gCO2e per kWh throughout its life cycle. For this reason, it is one of the energy technologies with the smallest carbon footprint. (9)
Comparing Turkey’s natural annual solar potential with the electricity demand of the country in 2010, the solar energy potential exceeds the electricity demand by a factor of 68. The potential also outweighs the predicted doubling of the electricity demand for the year 2020 by a factor of 31. (10)
Turkey exhibits the fastest growth in electricity demand among OECD members in recent years, growing at an annual rate of 5.5% since 2002. Turkey’s energy use is expected to increase by 50% over the next decade (11)
Gender & Marginalisation
Globally, female employment in the energy sector is around 22%, while the renewable energy sector employs about 32% women. Even within renewables, women’s participation in STEM jobs is far lower than in administrative jobs. (20) In the developing world, 1/7 people lack electricity, especially in rural areas. (21) Providing alternative energy options that are off-the-grid can increase the coverage rate of the rural population and provide cheaper alternatives
Expected Development Outcome
Lower carbon emission levels; solar PV systems used for residential purposes result in 80% lower carbon emissions than fossil fuels and are capable of meeting a household's electricity consumption entirely. (12)
A one point increase in the use of domestic and renewable resources in electricity production contributes approximately 100 million dollars to the domestic economy. (13) For each MW of production, the solar energy sector provides 33 people with employment. (7)
Prevent energy waste; the production of solar energy for self-use at the point of consumption or at a different location in the same distribution zone will prevent the waste of 362.7 GWH per year in the distribution process. (7)
Gender & Marginalisation
Job opportunities exist across the value-chain in renewable energy, investments in this sector are likely to increase female employment if complemented with the right policies
Increase energy access in rural households
Primary SDGs addressed
7.1.1 Proportion of population with access to electricity
7.1.2 Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology
7.2.1 Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption
7.3.1 Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and GDP
7.b.1 Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita)
100% (14)(15)
13.37%(14)(15)
0.82kWh/$ (15)
100% (14)(15)
100%
Around 51% (dashboard)(14)
The world average is 1.43kWh/$ (tracker)(15)
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Public sector
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Outcome Risks
The recycling and disposal processes of solar panels can be environmentally hazardous
Impact Risks
Unexpected Impact Risk
Impact Classification
What
Important, positive outcome: increased share of renewable energy resources in electricity generation.
Who
Reducing the dependency on imports benefits the greater economy and creates new jobs.
Risk
Low Risk (The recycling process of solar panels can be environmentally hazardous if not done according to the appropriate standards)
Impact Thesis
This IOA will increase the share of renewable resources in the domestic energy portfolio and contribute to energy security while reducing energy-related CO2 emissions.
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
(2020 Annual Presidential Program): The need to increase renewable energy production & reduce energy import dependency is noted by the 2020 Annual Presidential Program, 2014-2023 National Strategy for Regional Development, the 11th Development Program, the Ministry of Energy 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and the VNR Report.
(The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 2019-2023 Strategic Plan): The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 2019-2023 Strategic Plan aims to increase the share of the installed power from local and renewable energy sources to 65% in total electricity production.
(2014-2023 National Strategy for Regional Development): The need to increase renewable energy production & reduce energy import dependency is noted by the 2020 Annual Presidential Program, 2014-2023 National Strategy for Regional Development, the 11th Development Program, the Ministry of Energy 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and the VNR Report.
Financial Environment
Financial incentives: The Development and Investment Bank of Turkey signed a 15-year 200 million USD loan agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank & a 40-year 45 million EUR loan agreement with KfW to finance renewable energy and solar energy production projects. (18)
Fiscal incentives: Facilities generating electricity from renewables benefit from feed-in tariffs for up to 10 years. The feed-in tariff in U.S. Dollars is accepted as the major guarantee that enable banks to supply project finance (17). However, the deadline for YEKDEM is December 31, 2020.
Other incentives: Under Yekdem, additional tariffs are added for the use of local content in RE facilities. The current legislation calls for at least a 55% local content ratio in order to be granted an incentive (17)
Regulatory Environment
(Regulation): Law No.6446, the Electricity Markets Law & Law No. 5346 on the Use of Renewable Energy Resources for Generating Electricity (delineates renewable energy resources, the procedures and principles of their conservation, certification and utilization). Law #6094 amended Law No.5346
(Regulation): For the licensed production of electricity from renewables, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority has the mandate to review and issue licenses. The grid connection permission is determined by the General Directorate of Renewable Energy and Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation
According to decision #1044 of the presidency, law #5346 has been amended. The changes remove the 13.3$cent/kWh support for unlicensed electricity production (from renewable sources) facilities and replaces it with the possibility to sell excess energy back to the grid(16) (17)
(Regulation): YEKDEM (Renewable Energy Support Mechanism) regulates feed-in tariffs and other such incentive mechanisms for renewable energy
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
Individual and commercial solar energy investors, domestic and international banks such as Akbank, Denizbank, Garantibank, Isbank, and Vakifbank and Clean Technology Fund (CTF), solar system installers and manufacturers
Government
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Turkish Electricity Transmission Company, Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Enerji Piyasaları İşletme A.Ş (The Energy Markets Management Company, EPIAŞ)
Multilaterals
EBRD, Clean Technology Fund (CTF)
Non-Profit
International Energy Agency, GÜNDER, Energy Exchange Istanbul, Association of Power Exchanges (APEX)
Target Locations
Turkey: Southeastern Anatolia Region
Turkey: Mediterranean Region
References
- (1) Sustainable Development Report Dashboard 2020, OECD Members, Turkey, https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/?fbclid=IwAR1tzYVKRXvPD2mwfvhf-mLTGGQEjA76y_HlrprWhSzNYZcqrLZMLXzRIcI#/TUR
- (2) 2020 Annual Presidential Program, http://www.sbb.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2020_Yili_Cumhurbaskanligi_Yillik_Programi.pdf
- (3) 11th Development Plan http://www.sbb.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/On_BirinciPLan_ingilizce_SonBaski.pdf
- (4) Sustainable Development Goals Evaluation Report, http://www.surdurulebilirkalkinma.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Surdurulebilir-Kalkinma-Amaclari-Degerlendirme-Raporu_13_12_2019-WEB.pdf
- (5) Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 2019-2023 Strategic Plan, http://www.sp.gov.tr/upload/xSPStratejikPlan/files/LBigi+ENERJI_VE_TABII_KAYNAKLAR_BAKANLIGI_2019-2023_STRATEJIK_PLANI.pdf
- (21) UNDP Turkey, SDG 7, https://www.tr.undp.org/content/turkey/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-7-affordable-and-clean-energy.html
- (6) Anadolu Agency, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/energy/renewable/turkey-set-to-be-among-europes-top-5-renewable-leaders/27069
- (7) Solar 3GW's Turkish Solar Energy Sector Report, 2020.
- (8) UNDP Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy , https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-7-affordable-and-clean-energy.html
- (9) Solar Power Europe, Solar Fact Sheet, https://www.solarpowereurope.org/solar-factsheets-sustainability/
- (10) Global Energy Network Instiitute, https://www.geni.org/globalenergy/research/renewable-energy-potential-of-turkey/100-re-for-turkey-2020.pdf
- (11) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey's Energy Profile and Strategy, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkeys-energy-strategy.en.mfa
- (12) Berkeley University, Residential Solar Panels and Their Impact on the Reduction of Carbon Emissions by Mashail S. Arif, https://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/es196/projects/2013final/ArifM_2013.pdf
- (13) Elektrik Dağıtım Hizmetleri Derneği, Sector News, http://www.elder.org.tr/ebulten/bulten257.html
- (14) SDG Index & Dashboard, 2020, https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/profiles/TUR/indicators
- (15) SDG Tracker, 2020, https://sdg-tracker.org/
- (16) Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office, https://www.invest.gov.tr/en/library/publications/lists/investpublications/guide-to-investing-in-turkish-renewables-energy-sector.pdf
- (17) Mondaq, Turkey: Renewable Energy: A Quick Guide To Turkish Regulatory Framework, https://www.mondaq.com/turkey/renewables/597240/renewable-energy-a-quick-guide-to-turkish-regulatory-framework
- (18) Statement by DIBT CEO, 2019. https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/bolgesel-kalkinma-fonu-ile-teknoloji-ve-inovasyon-fonu-kuruldu-414047
- (19) Investment Office, 2020, https://www.invest.gov.tr/en/sectors/pages/energy.aspx
- (20) IRENA, Renewable Energy: A Gender Perspective, 2019, https://www.irena.org/publications/2019/Jan/Renewable-Energy-A-Gender-Perspective
- (22) Solar 3GW, 2020. Turkish Solar Energy Sector Report.
- (23) Turkis Statistical Services, 2021. https://cip.tuik.gov.tr/#.