Overview of the Licensing Procedure on the Turkish electricity market

A pre-license must first be applied for This pre-license is limited to a maximum of 36 months, whereby the time limit varies depending on the energy source and installed capacity Within this period, the official approvals required for the construction of the electricity generation plant must be obtained and certain formalities completed; these include the acquisition of ownership or usage rights, approval of the development plan, obtaining planning permission, approval of the interactions for wind turbines, undergoing environmental impact assessments, applying for the conclusion of grid connection contracts and grid usage contracts as well as the conclusion of specific contracts, which vary depending on the energy source

If the holder of the pre-license has fulfilled its obligations under the pre-license procedure, it must submit an application for a power generation license within the term of the pre-license in order to be able to start building the power generation facility.

There are additional requirements for the construction of wind power and photovoltaic systems. For example, measurements must be carried out for at least one year before applying for a pre-license.

The application will be processed within 45 days of submission. The electricity generation license is issued once it has been established that the applicant has fulfilled all obligations under the pre-licensing procedure.

The license is issued for a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 49 years, depending on the type of activity. An extension is possible. It should be noted at this point that, in addition to the electricity generation license, there are other licenses that are required by law for the performance of certain activities; in addition to electricity generation, these are transmission, distribution, retail, wholesale, import, export of electricity and market activity.

Holders of the power generation license are obliged to carry out the construction work within the construction period stipulated in the license and to commission the plant. The installation is deemed to be completed on the date of the provisional official confirmation. The date of the provisional official confirmation is also the date of commissioning.

Furthermore, the holders of the electricity generation license are obliged to inform the competent authority of the progress of the work every year, in the first and second half of each year, until the construction work is completed.

All electricity generated can be sold on the electricity market or traded. YEKDEM, the mechanism for promoting renewable energy sources, also applies. If domestic components are used in the plant, these are also subsidized.

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources recently announced that the licensing procedure is to be simplified. A draft law will be introduced before the end of this year. The Energy Minister is talking about an era of new investments - so things remain exciting.

There are currently exceptions to the licensing requirement. These will be discussed in more detail in the next issue.