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The License Requirements For Roof Type Solar Power Plants in Turkey

MUSTAFA KOCATEPE

Table of Contents

What is Turkey’s License Requirements For Roof Type Solar Power Plants?

The right to produce their energy has been granted to both real and/or legal persons via legal regulations to increase the productivity of energy resources and energy usage in our country, Turkey. Real or legal persons who meet certain conditions are exempt from the obligation of obtaining any license or establishing a different company. This concept is called “Unlicensed Electricity Generation.” In this article, we will discuss information notes on license requirements for Roof SSP Systems.

According to Article 14/1/(b) of the Electricity Market Law No. 6446, “generation facilities based on renewable energy resources with a maximum installed capacity of five megawatts” are exempted from the obligation to obtain a license and establish a company.

As known, energy sources are divided into two categories as renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Although non-renewable energy sources are still seen as the dominant production element, many regulations aim to increase the production of renewable energy sources in the world and Turkey. Released data indicates that green/renewable energy resources in Turkey account for about forty per cent of the total electricity production.

Hydro-energy resources provide a large part of green energy production, and the share of wind and solar energy has been increasing with increasing government incentives in recent years. With the legal changes made in Turkey, electricity generation from solar energy is encouraged for real and legal persons to meet their consumption. In addition, many solar power generation plants have been established in the south of our country for commercial purposes only.

The Future Benefits of Solar Energy Systems

Turkey is a country that imports energy resources due to its geographic location. In today’s world, fossil fuels in energy production, which is also very harmful to the environment, is gradually abandoned. A transition to green energy is made with renewable resources has begun.

With the effect of the location of our country, the State attaches importance to green energy and provides many incentives. An unlicensed electricity generation system, which is a system specific to our country, has been developed. Improvements are made to the system day by day to render it more preferable.

Settlement and The Process of Selling Excess Energy to The Market

According to Article 4 of the Unlicensed Electricity Generation Regulation, which has been published in the Official Gazette of Turkey dated 12/5/2019 No. 30772, settlement is expressed as “the process of finding the net production or net consumption value in kWh as a result of deducting the generation and consumption from each other within a certain period of time.”

Again, in the monthly clearing application, which is regulated in detail in Article 26 of the very same regulation, it is stated that the calculations will be determined by the transactions to be made by the relevant grid operator on the 6^th day of each month and the energy to be supplied to the grid as a result of the settlement which the supply company in charge will purchase for ten years. Therefore, there does not appear to be any problem in selling excess energy to the market.

No Negative Changes are Expected in The Government’s Purchase Guarantee and Purchase Price Practises

There does not appear to be any negative change in the government’s purchase guarantee in the future. Because, in the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, it is aimed to increase the ratio of electricity installed power based on domestic and renewable energy sources to 65% of the total installed power.

Besides, no negative changes are foreseen in the purchase price practices. The purchase prices are determined by Electricity Market Regulatory Board “EMRA” every three months in accordance with the tariff promulgated in Table I of the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Resources for Electricity Generation Purposes No. 5346.

What Are The Required Applications and Commonly Encountered Problems?

Solar Power Plant installation is relatively costly and requires technical knowledge. To protect from the consequences of occupational accidents that may arise during the execution of the work, the contract to be made with the contractor company should be prepared seriously, and the selection of the contractor company should be done carefully.

In the power plant installation, specified information and documents set out at the Board decision of EMRA dated 16/05/2019 shall be compiled. It is necessary to apply to the relevant authorities within the time limit mentioned in the Regulation on Unlicensed Electricity Production in the Electricity Market.

The documents required for the application are as follows:

Petition and unlicensed production connection application form,
Letter of attorney (if the transaction is not done in person),
Trade registry gazette and documents regarding the shareholder structure,
The original title deed of the relevant real estate,
Electricity subscription information,
Annual application fee of 947.5 TRY for over 250 kW and receipt,
Technical documents on the subject (Details are included in the standard supplementary document).

What Are The Insurance Practises?

In Roof SSP Systems, the insurable risks of the building on which the installation will be made and the power plant risks are combined. E.g., The risk of fire that may occur in the switchboard during and after the installation also poses a risk for the building on it, or there is a possibility that a problem may occur due to the wrong installation or carelessness of the contractor in the insulation of the building. It may also damage the fixtures inside the building.

Therefore, the investor, who will have an SSP Installation on her/his roof, should ask the contractor company for a 3^rd Party Financial Liability Insurance that covers such situations. It should be clearly stated in the policy that coverage is provided for this issue.

Following the system’s installation, an application must be made to the insurance company where the insurance of the main building is taken, and the situation must be reported. The risks that may arise due to the SSP must be included in the policy. If the SPP installation is not notified to the insurance company, the risks arising from the SSP will not be covered under the policy.

It is Not Necessary to Obtain a Production License For The Roof Type SSP With an Installed Capacity Below Five Megawatts

Article 14/1/(b) of the Electricity Market Law No. 6446 and Article 5 of the Regulation on Unlicensed Electricity Generation in the Electricity Market concurrently regulate the generation facilities that can be installed without obtaining a generation license.

According to subparagraph c of paragraph 1 of the relevant Article: “Generation facilities based on renewable energy resources with an installed power of 5 megawatts or up to the upper limit of installed power determined by the President within the framework of Article 14 of the Law,” also specified in subparagraph h: “Production facilities based on renewable energy resources, provided that it is limited to the contractual power in the connection agreement” license are exempt from the obligation to receive generation license.

Therefore, it is not necessary to obtain a generation license for the rooftop solar panel. As of today, the maximum installed power limit is five megawatts. Facilities below this amount are exempted from obtaining a generation license.

About The Producer’s Sale of Production Except For Its Use, The State’s Purchase Obligation and Fees

Article 6/A of the Law on Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources to generate Electrical Energy regulates the purchase obligation of the State in this regard.

According to the provision, ‘‘In the event that real persons and entities generating electrical energy from Renewable Energy Resources within the scope of this Article shall export their surplus productions to the distribution system, they can benefit from the prices in Schedule I for a term of ten years. To this end, the electrical energy given to the distribution system must be purchased by the relevant distribution company holding the retail sales license. Electrical energy purchased by relevant companies as per this article shall be deemed to be produced and given to the system by the said distribution companies within the scope of the RES Support Mechanism.’’

In Schedule I mentioned in the relevant article, this price is determined according to the retail single-time active energy price of its subscriber group, announced by EMRA as TRY cent/kWh. The price valid for the industry tariff as of 01/07/2021 is 63,8338 TRY cents for Middle Voltage, and 64,8683 TRY cents for Low Voltage.

No EIA Decision is Required For Rood Type Unlicensed SSP

In Article 45 of the Annex-2 list of the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) Regulation; it is stated that selection and screening criteria should be applied for solar power plants with a project area of 2 hectares and above or an installed power of 1 MWe and above (excluding roof and facade systems). Since roof and facade, solar power plants are exempted from these criteria, it is not necessary to obtain an “EIA Positive Decision” or “EIA Not Required” decision from the Ministry of Environment.

Connection to Grid, System Usage and Electricity Sales Contract Will Be Signed With Supply Company

To connect the generation facility established within the scope of the Regulation on Unlicensed Electricity Production in the Electricity Market to the distribution system per the Electricity Market Law numbered 4628 and the Law No. 5346 on the Use of Renewable Energy Resources for Electricity Generation and the secondary legislation enacted following these laws; a binding agreement between the producer and the distributor.

There is no need to sign a connection to the grid, system usage and electricity sales with TEIAS (Turkish Electricity Transmission JSC) and TETAS (Turkish Electricity Trade JSC).

Article Keywords: Requirements For Roof SSP Systems, Information Note on License Requirements For Roof SSP Systems, Roof SSP Systems, Requirements For Roof SSP Systems, Roof SSP System, License Requirements For Roof Type Solar Power Plants in Turkey.

Relevant Legislation and Resources

Electricity Market Law No. 4628,
Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Resources for the Purpose of Electricity Generation No. 5346,
Regulation on Unlicensed Electricity Production in the Electricity Market,
Law on Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources for the Purpose of Generating Electrical Energy,
T.R. Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 2019-2023 Strategic Plan,
Electricity Market Law.

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