EBRD to finance 327 MW renewable projects in Turkey

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it is providing a financing package of up to US$102 million to the renewable energy arm of the Turkish conglomerate Akfen Holding. The funds will be invested in building four new wind farms and nine solar PV plants with a combined capacity of 327 MW.

Akfen Renewables, or Akfen Yenilenebilir Enerji as it is known in Turkey, owns and operates wind, solar and hydro power plants. The EBRD ​is a minority shareholder in the company alongside the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, with a 15.98% stake each.

Akfen is investing in four new wind farms with a total capacity of 242 MW: Ucpinar (99 MW), Kocalar (26 MW) and Hasanoba (51 MW) in Çanakkale, a province in north-western Turkey on the Dardanelles Strait, and Denizli (66 MW) in the eponymous province in the south west of the country.

The wind farms will be rated and certified annually with regards to their environmental, social and governance performance by Vigeo-Eiris rating agency. Once operational they are expected to save around 340,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

US$52 million of the EBRD financing will support the development of nine new solar photovoltaic plants, to be installed in five locations across Turkey. The combined capacity of the plants will be 85 MW.

These projects are part of Akfen Renewables' aim to reach a total installed capacity of 1,000 MW in clean energy generation by 2020 and Akfen Holding’s ambition to become one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the country. 

Supporting this project is part of the EBRD’s larger efforts to help Turkey increase its share of renewables in the energy mix. In line with its renewable energy action plan developed by the country’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources with the support of the EBRD, Turkey aims to install 27 GW of non-hydro renewable generation capacity by 2023, 20 GW of which is expected to be wind and 5 GW licensed solar.