Caspian Report - Issue: 08 - Fall 2014

ARZU YORKAN
122
THE STRATEGY PAPER HAS ESTABLISHED SPECIFIC
TARGETS FOR EACH SINGLE RENEWABLE SOURCE
BY 2023.
and contribute to their institutional
development. In addition to the renewables
sector, the Directorate
is also responsible for developing
policies for energy efficiency, climate
change and high-tech in these
fields. Following the publication of
the Law and the Strategy Papers and
the establishment of the Directorate,
private industry and civil society organisations
have also been involved
in policy-making and the development
of the renewable energy sector.
Turkey subsequently launched a
plan to gradually increase electricity
generation of electricity from these
resources, especially wind. However,
the following section will explain
why the country’s green potential
remains under exploited and under
utilised.
LIMITATIONS: INVESTMENT, R&D,
AND INNOVATION
Despite the significant potential
outlined above, Turkey has not yet
taken sufficient action on renewable
resources to generate a viable alternative
energy supply. Inadequate
levels of investment, technological
development and R&D (research
and development), alongside the
signing of long-term gas contracts,
particularly with Russia, remain
barriers to the development of the
renewable energy sources in Turkey.
Domestic investment in the promotion
of renewable energy resources,
especially for non-traditional
sources – wind, solar, geothermal,
and modern biomasses – remains
inadequate. Turkish domestic private
investors have preferred, and
still prefer, to invest mostly in gas
power stations, since in Turkey the
construction of gas power stations is
technically and politically much easier
than constructing a power plant
from wind, geothermal, and solar.
With the exception of hydropower,
the interconnection of renewable
energy sources with the national
electricity grids are still at the initial
stages (YEGM 2013), which has
created a technical problem – particularly
in terms of wind energy,
the interconnection of which is very
limited, especially in the west, which
is windier than the eastern part. On
the other hand, finding locations for
the construction of power plants is
a time-consuming process involving
bureaucratic hurdles such as the allocation
of forested areas, receiving
licences for construction; obtaining
loans and subsidies; and poor interinstitutional
coordination.
R&D on high-tech and innovation in
relation to green energy in Turkey
has not yet developed to a sufficient
level. The problems are two-fold: one
is financial, and the other is that research
and development in this field
remains in the very early stages. The
national budget allocation for R&D
in the field of renewable energy is
very low in comparison to the world
average. For example, in 2008 it was
0.7 per cent, while the world average
was 2-3 per cent (TMMOB-MMO
2008). Additionally, most Turkish
universities / research institutions,
especially in the social science area,
do not have research departments
dedicated to green energy/climate
change/environmental protection
etc., which is necessary for the
country’s policy-making processes.
On the other hand, a very limited
number of universities/centres in
the natural science field have been
conducting research to advance high
tech innovations in renewable energy
production, CCS (carbon capture
and storage), hydrogen etc. However,