Turkey blocked Cyprus and Israel’s affiliation with the International Agency for Renewable Energies (IRENA), Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said, Anadolu agency reported on Tuesday.
The Minister said that voting on admission of new members to the IRENA was held in the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi. Given that Turkey is a member of the agency, the country was able to oppose the adoption of Cyprus and Israel to membership in IRENA.
The International Agency for Renewable Energies (IRENA) was established in January 2009 at its founding conference in Bonn. The event was attended by over 120 countries.
IRENA is the first organization on the intergovernmental level with the power to stimulate the development of renewable energy sources. The Agency aims to take its rightful place in the global energy sector, along with the IAEA and IEA.
The organization’s charter is signed by 141 States (47 African, 37 European, 33 Asian, 15 representing the American continents, 9 – Australia and Oceania), and the European Union. The charter was ratified by 75 states and the EU by June 2, 2011.
The main activities of the agency include the provision of consulting services, the creation of framework conditions for the use of renewable energy sources, as well as financing and provision of appropriate technology for their application.
via Turkey blocks membership of Israel and Cyprus in International Agency for Renewable Energy – Trend.Az.
Renewable energy resources can help Turkey meet its energy demand and lower the burden of energy imports, EUROSOLAR’s Uyar says. AA photo
Nuclear energy and fossil fuels are not a solution for meeting Turkey’s energy demand, thus the country should shift to renewables, such as wind and solar energy, an executive of an association for renewables says
As one of the strongest economies in the region Turkey should not rely on nuclear and fossil fuels such as oil and gas, which is the biggest import item of the country, but rather focus on renewable energy sources, according to a top executive of the local branch of a European renewable energy association.
“Nuclear is no more a solution for meeting energy demand in a sustainable way,” Tanay Sıdkı Uyar, president of the Turkish branch of the European Association for Renewable Energy, or EUROSOLAR, told the Daily News on Tuesday in a phone interview. Turkey should abandon plans to build fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, he added.
Turkey currently plans to build 16,000 megawatts worth of fossil fuel power plants in addition to three nuclear power stations. Uyar said, however, the country should no longer continue to adopt the technologies that developed nations have already abandoned.
“Despite the general belief, renewable energy sources are much more affordable for Turkey,” said Uyar, noting that “internalizing external costs” of nuclear energy and fossil fuels is way higher than renewables. According to him, if Turkey starts on the nuclear adventure, the importance of renewable energy would never be fully understood.
Uyar also said Turkey has the potential to switch to renewable energy sources and could use them to meet 100 percent of the country’s energy demand by 2020.
Turkey currently imports 75 percent of its energy, which is equivalent to 99 million tons of oil annually, and is expected to need 218 million tons of oil by 2020, according to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, or TÜBITAK.
Focusing on renewable resources is crucial for the country’s EU candidacy, as the bloc is considering a tax based on carbon emissions to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
Import deals
“Turkey has import deals for gas and oil that require the country to pay for them whether they are fully consumed or not,” Uyar said, adding that the country should make a decision about the renewable energy sources as soon as possible. Emphasizing that Europe and the U.S. had started working on renewable resources in the 1980s, Uyar said, “Turkey is already late, but we should start supporting renewable energy in order to lessen dependency on Iran and Russia.”
Turkey also is preparing to host the International 100% Renewable Energy Conferences, or IRENEC, on Oct. 6-8 this year in Istanbul to pursue improvements in the energy efficiency and renewable energies. Internalization of external costs, wind turbine technologies, solar power and zero-energy buildings are among the topics to be discussed during the conference.
The government introduced a new incentive for renewable energy last year: a feed-in tariff for solar power of $0.133 per kilowatt-hour. This is under 10 eurocents per kilowatt and less than the 45.7 and 33 eurocents Germany and Spain pay respectively. “This cannot be called a feed-in tariff at all,” Uyar said.
Private companies’ applications to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, or EMRA, have reached 802 since 2007 and are still pending approval. Hasan Köktaş, head of the EMRA, said Monday Turkey’s electricity generation from wind plants would exceed 1,600 MW and that investments in wind power would reach to 1.6 billion euros by the end of this year, Anatolia news agency reported.
via Turkey should switch to renewables, expert says – Hurriyet Daily News.
Turkey expects an investment of €40 billion in renewable energy sector by 2020 – located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Turkey has ventured on a major renewable energy and energy efficiency programme, Zaman reported.
Turkey’s aim is to increase its clean-energy share to 30% of its power supply by 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. Seeing the economic growth of Turkey, the US Embassy there said that a growth of 8.9% in 2010 and 11% in the first quarter of 2011, has caused a sharp increase in energy demand. Several US firms will see business-development opportunities in solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and all elements of energy efficiency – around 6-8% annual growth in energy demand by 2020 is expected, with an addition of 50,000MW predicted for the grid. Public and private-sector investment will fund many of these projects, under the supervision of US companies.
The high energy costs in Turkey, combined with the need to lower production costs to remain competitive internationally have made Turkish firms hunger for US equipment and technology in both renewable energy and energy efficiency. The US Commercial Service at the US Embassy in Turkey receives five to seven inquiries per month for potential US suppliers of renewable energy and energy efficiency equipment, services and technology.
In addition, US exporters can offer trade finance to their Turkish importers and US EximBank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development offer attractive terms to fund sales of American equipment. Recently, the US giant AES acquired a near 50% share in AES-Entek Electric Company, a joint venture with Koc Group, which focus on existing and new generation opportunities, including renewables. GE also recently announced a 530MW project, with the Turkish MetCap Energy Investments in Karaman, Turkey. The project will feature a 22MW GE wind farm, a 50MW eSolar “power tower” solar thermal system and GE’s new FlexEfficiency turbine technology.
Last year, US firm Clipper Wind opened a representative office in Istanbul. The US Department of Energy, in partnership with GE Ecoimagination, Shaw Group and Johnson Controls will develop a pilot project in energy efficiency using US technology. The US firms have significant business opportunities in Turkey in sectors such as wind turbines, geothermal exploration, drilling and geophysical engineering services, geothermal power plant equipment, biomass power generation, waste-to-energy systems and solutions, hydroelectric power plant equipment supply, solar power generation systems microturbines, cogeneration systems, coal gasification, coal-bed methane systems and solutions, energy efficiency systems and solutions and fuel cells and heat pumps.
via US companies see business opportunities in Turkey – New Europe.
Turkey’s dependency on fossil fuel imports is no secret but a big problem, one which the government is keen on helping to solve. In recent years Turkey has become known as one of the fore thinkers in the creation of renewable energy, and investment in the sector is growing massively as it becomes recognized as a sector with massive growth potential — the government’s support adds a layer of safety to investments.
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) feels that interdisciplinary R&D and innovation studies will help Turkey to realise its renewable energy potential, and will also help with Turkey’s vision of becoming an energy corridor.
At the moment Turkey imports 75% of its energy which is equivalent to 99,000,000 tonnes of oil. It is expected to need 218,000,000 tonnes of oil by 2020.
Data released by the Organisation for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD) found that, while the Turkish population makes up 6% of the OECD total, the country contributes just 2% of its energy. The average OECD energy used per capita is equivalent to 0.18 tonnes of oil whereas in Turkey it is equivalent to 0.28 tonnes of oil. The average energy self-sufficiency rate is only 27.5% in Turkey compared to an average of 70% in OECD countries.
All the above data points towards the urgent need for speeding up research and development into energy in Turkey, which has a lot of catching up to do with more developed countries. To do so Turkey must focus on developing the necessary sources to create technological advancements, skills and support institutions.
Turkey has to lower its levels of greenhouse gas emissions by next year in order to meet conditions set by the Kyoto protocol. TUBITAK is hoping to encourage the private sector in Turkey to develop green technologies and still aims to keep its 2023 goal of having Turkey produce 30% of its energy through renewable sources.
It’s likely that this will involve a variety of energy types in order to produce power from solar, wind and hydroelectric sources. Another important energy source is likely to come from hydrogen burning technologies while energy storage and power system capacities are also likely to benefit from R & D. TUBITAK still sees nuclear energy as being important in reducing greenhouse emissions.
The need for renewable energy will only become more important when Turkey enters the EU as it is currently considering an energy tax based on carbon emissions. The new tax is aiming to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and promote renewable energy sources that emit less CO2. However, it is only a proposal at this stage, and Germany has already voiced its opposition to the new rules, because it fears it would affects its automobile industry.
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