Turkey is rich in renewable energy potential in terms of location. Especially hydraulic, wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources have a high potential. These renewable energy sources are used in electricity generation. For this reason, the Legislator has made regulation on this issue. The Law on the Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources for the Purpose of Generating Electrical Energy entered into force on 18/05/2005.
The purpose of this Law is to ensure the usage of renewable energy resources for generating electricity, incorporating these in a qualified manner to the economy, to increase the diversification of energy resources, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to utilize waste, to protect the environment and to develop the manufacturing sector required for realizing these aims.
Renewable energy sources are counted in the Law. Renewable energy resources are non-fossil energy resources such as hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, biogas, gas obtained from biogas (including landfill gas), wave, current, and tidal energy.
The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources determines the places where these resources will be established in order to use renewable energy resources effectively and efficiently, to allocate these areas and connection capacities to investors and to make investments quickly. The Ministry takes the opinion of the relevant institution and organization while determining the location. In case the immovables subject to private ownership are determined as renewable energy resource areas, urgent expropriation can be made on the mentioned areas. The place determined is annotated to the land registry. The determined renewable energy resource areas are notified to the relevant authorities by the Ministry in order to be included in the development plans.
The legal person holding a generation license shall be issued by EMRA with a "Renewable Energy Resource Certificate” (RER Certificate) for the purpose of identifying and monitoring the resource type in trading electricity generated from renewable energy resources in the domestic and international markets.
Any legal person generating electricity from the renewable energy resources under this Law and intending not to be subject to this Renewable Energy Resources (RER) Support Mechanism shall be allowed to make sales in the free market under its license.
Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism (RERSM)
Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism (RERSM) is regulated in the Law. RER Support Mechanism is a supporting mechanism involving the procedures and principles regarding the prices and terms from which those engaged in generation activities based on renewable energy resources under this Law can benefit as well as the payments to be made for these. For generation facilities to be established in renewable energy resource areas, the lowest price to be offered over the ceiling price in TL determined by the Ministry is applied within the scope of the RER Support Mechanism for the period to be determined in the competition conditions for this renewable energy resource area.
The prices to be included in the RERSM have been put into operation from the effective date of this Law until 31/12/2020 and are applied for 10 years to the production facilities within the scope of this Law.
According to Article 14 of the Law No. 6446, legal entities that use all of the electrical energy they produce without giving them to the transmission or distribution system, whose production and consumption are at the same measurement point, and who establish a generation facility based on renewable energy resources do not need to obtain a license. In case the electricity produced by these facilities is purchased by the assigned supply companies, the assigned supply companies become the natural participants of RERSM throughout the license period. Unlicensed persons can benefit from the attached prices indicated in the Law for the surplus energy through the assigned supply companies for 10 years from the date of operation.
Those who want to benefit from the RER Support Mechanism from the licensed electricity generation facilities that entered into operation after 30/06/2021 must obtain a RER Certificate and apply to EMRA until the date to be determined by EMRA.
The periods stipulated in the RER Support Mechanism start from the date of entry into the business for those who are in the facilities, and the date when they enter the business for those who have not yet entered the business. Those who are subject to the RER Support Mechanism cannot give up this practice during the year they are included in the application. Since RERSM is an annual mechanism, generation license holders who want to benefit from RERSM in the next calendar year must apply to EMRA until October 31st.
EPİAŞ explains the total cost of RER for each invoicing period and determines the payment obligation rate of each supplier.
Procedures and principles regarding practices including EPİAŞ, obligations of generation facilities in terms of transmission and / or distribution system security, determination of those generation facilities to operate in the balancing power market and/or ancillary services market, and rights and obligations regarding legal entities to operate in these markets, The procedures and principles regarding the utilization of tariffs applied to support electricity generation based on renewable energy resources and other revenues within the scope of the RER Support Mechanism shall be regulated by a regulation to be issued by EMRA.
The price adjustment has been made if the electronic / mechanical parts used in the production facilities based on renewable energy resources of the licensed legal entities and which were put into operation before 30/6/2021 were manufactured domestically. Price regulations, procedures and principles to be determined for unlicensed production facilities to be established to meet the needs of the production facilities with RER Certificated and consumption facilities using domestic components to be commissioned after 30/6/2021 are determined and announced by the President.
Investments
Service fees are not collected from those who establish an isolated electricity generation facility with a maximum installed power of 1000 kilowatts using renewable energy resources only to meet their own needs, for projects whose final project, planning, master plan, preliminary examination or first study is prepared by The General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works or General Directorate of Energy Affairs.
Investments in energy generation facilities, provision of domestically manufactured electromechanical systems, R&D and manufacturing investments as part of electricity generation systems where solar cells and focuser units are used, R&D facility investments intended for electricity generation or fuel production by using biomass resources shall able to be availed from incentives upon decisions of President.
85% discount is applied to the costs of permit, rent, easement right and usage permit for ten years from the license date from the generation facilities and energy transmission lines that are in operation as of the date of publication of this Law and will be put into operation until 31/12/2025.Forestry Peasant Development Revenue and Forestation and Erosion Control Revenue shall not be charged.
Electricity generation facilities based on renewable energy resources shall be permitted to be installed, provided that the affirmative opinions of the relevant Ministry for national parks, nature parks, natural monuments, nature conservations, protected forests, wildlife development areas, special environmental protection zones, and of the relevant protection regional boards for natural sites are obtained.
Sanctions
The auditing of the people who use renewable energy resources for electrical energy production is carried out by EMRA. EMRA imposes administrative sanctions for benefiting from RERSM support and negativity in license conditions. The sanctions to be applied are shown in the EML article 16.
If the EMRA requests information or a site inspection and if it is discovered that such information is incorrect, deficient or misleading or no information or no opportunity for a site inspection is provided, the relevant legal person shall be given a warning for the provision of the correct information and an opportunity for the inspection within fifteen days. Those continuing the violation despite the written warning shall be imposed an administrative fine.
Administrative fines are imposed in the event that unreal document or information is provided or changes in the license conditions that will affect the license are not notified to the Board regarding the conditions sought in license issuance during the license application or license enforcement. If this false document or misleading information or changes in the license conditions are not possible to be corrected, or in spite of a written notice to be corrected within thirty days, the license of those who maintain their contradiction will be canceled.
If it is discovered that the provisions of this Law, the secondary legislation or the license or the decisions and instructions of the Board are violated, the relevant legal person shall be provided with a warning for the elimination of the violation within thirty days according to the nature of the violation or for not repeating the same, while those continuing the violation or repeating the same action despite the written warning shall be imposed by an administrative fine.
If it is discovered that a legal person is operating out of the license scope in the market, the relevant legal person shall be warned for the termination of the said or unfavorable activity within fifteen days. Those continuing the violation despite the written warning shall be imposed an administrative fine.
The license is canceled if it is determined that the conditions underlying the license are terminated during the term of the license or that these conditions do not exist from the beginning.
If the licensee does not comply with the decisions made by the Board or the relevant legislation, a 30-day period is given by the Board to eliminate these inconveniences. In the event that these non-conformities are not corrected within this period or if these non-conformities are repeated, an administrative fine will be imposed.
Judicial Remedy Against EMRA Decisions
It is necessary to first apply to EMRA against the Board decisions made by EMRA.
Judicial remedy is available against EMRA Board Decisions. Lawsuits against these decisions are opened in Ankara Administrative Courts. The period for filing a lawsuit is 60 days.
Appeals against the decisions of the court of first instance are open.
Related Council of State Decisions
1) In the use of renewable energy resources for the purpose of electricity energy generation, these persons, including those that are in operation as of the publication date of the relevant Law, from generation facilities and energy transmission lines that will come into operation until 31/12/2025, for ten years from the date of license, rent, easement and usage permit fees 85% discount will be made. This implementation is valid for all companies that are or will be operating.
“…under the force of law in force at the time the plaintiff company applied to establish a wind power plant, the right to discount only 50% of the land allocation fees for the investment period was granted, with the subsequent law amendment, 85% of this rate both during the investment and operation period and for a total of 10 years was determined. The plaintiff wanted to benefit from the provisions of the amended article 8 of the Law No.5346 on the grounds that the plaintiff company, which has not yet passed the investment period, should also benefit from these discounts brought by the legislator. The transaction subject to the case regarding the rejection of the plaintiff's application for this was found to be illegal and canceled.” (Council of State 13th Department Case No:2015/6342, Decision No:2019/691)
2) Terms stipulated in the RER Support Mechanism shall start on the actual commissioning date for the facilities already being operated and on the date future commissioning date for the facilities not in operation yet. Article 8 of the Regulation on Certification and Support of Renewable Energy Resources is regulated from the date of entry if the entire enterprise enters into operation, and if the whole enterprise participates in RERSM before it enters into operation, it will be able to benefit from RERSM for ten years from the date of first joining RERSM. Article 8 of the Regulation on Certification and Support of Renewable Energy Resources, which restricts a right granted to those concerned by Article 6 of the Law No. 5346, is against the law.
“In Article 6 of the Law No.5346, it is stated that those who want to be subject to the RER Support Mechanism in the next calendar year must apply to EMRA until 31 October. However, there is no rule stating that the facilities should be partially or fully operational by this date on the contrary, it is foreseen that the period for the RER Support Mechanism will start from the date of the establishment.
However, according to the 8th article of the aforementioned Regulation, the companies that started the operation as of 31 October were given the opportunity to apply, and if the facility entered operation after this date, it was prevented from benefiting from the incentive in the next calendar year. As per Article 124 of the Constitution, a regulation may be issued in order to ensure the implementation of laws and not contrary to the law, Article 6 of the Law No.5346 stipulates that new facilities producing electricity using renewable energy sources will benefit from the RER Support Mechanism as of the date of their commissioning, the Regulation and the incentive system was unlawfully changed, and a right recognized by law was narrowed by a regulation, which is an administrative act.
Therefore; Article 8 of the Regulation on the Certification and Support of Renewable Energy Resources, which restricts a right granted to those concerned by Article 6 of the Law No. 5346, and the decision of the Board that is the subject of the case established on the basis of this article is against the law.” (Council of State 13th Department, Case No:2019/319, Decision No:2020/3315 )
