Competitions were held for 6 Renewable Resource Areas (YEKA) allocated to solar power plants. In the competitions where a total of 67 applications were made from 146 companies, a total of 800 megawatt capacity areas were allocated. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar stated that there was great interest in the competitions and said, “It was a competition process where we will produce an investment of approximately 500 million dollars and 1,5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which means we will meet the electricity needs of 600 thousand households.”
Minister Bayraktar emphasized that with the realization of these investments, 300 million cubic meters of natural gas imports per year will be prevented, and that the monetary equivalent of this will be 20 billion dollars when the 3-year purchasing process is considered, and announced that they will hold the 2025 YEKA competitions by the end of the year.
146 Application
YEKA GES-2024 Competitions for solar power plants were held at the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Legal entities established as joint stock or limited companies according to the Turkish Commercial Code and foreign companies with capital company status participated in the competitions. Applications were received on January 28, 2025, and a total of 67 applications were received from 146 domestic and foreign companies.
6 Solar Power Plants in 6 Provinces
In YEKA GES-2024, a total of 800 MWe connection capacity in Konya, Karaman, Malatya, Van, Antalya and Kütahya was allocated to investors as a result of the competition. The competitions broadcast live on social media witnessed great competition.
Covering 20 Years
The companies that win the competition will be able to sell the electricity they produce on the free market for 60 months from the contract signing date. Then, the electricity produced for 20 years will be given to the transmission system at a price of 3,25 dollars/cents per kilowatt-hour.
Electricity for 600 Thousand Households
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar made statements to reporters after the completion of the competitions. Noting that there was intense interest from investors in solar as well as wind tenders, Minister Bayraktar said, “It was a competition process where we will produce an investment of approximately 500 million dollars and 1,5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, meaning we will meet the electricity needs of 600 thousand households.”
Indicator of Trust
Bayraktar noted that the tenders were held at an average price of 6 thousand dollars per megawatt in 126 competitions and said, “Our electricity purchase guarantee was 3,25 cents per kilowatt-hour. When you look at today’s market prices, it was realized at a price less than half. All these processes are extremely valuable in terms of showing how big our country’s renewable energy potential is and showing our country’s trust in the renewable energy sector, energy sector and economy.”
Next in Line Are the 2025 Competitions
Minister Bayraktar, who announced that they will hold YEKA tenders for 2025 for at least 2 megawatts at the end of the year, said, “With the tender we held today, we are preventing the import of 300 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, which means 150 million dollars per year. When we consider the 20-year purchase period, it means that we have prevented the import of approximately 3 billion dollars worth of natural gas.”
Investments Will Accelerate
Bayraktar emphasized that they are working on a reform package that will accelerate investment processes, especially in wind and solar, and said, “In this way, we will implement projects that will reduce our country’s external dependency on energy, contribute to meeting energy demand, and of course contribute to our climate goals and emission reduction goals as soon as possible.”
Support for Domestic Production
Bayraktar, who said that they prioritized domestic equipment production in these tenders, said, “We carried out the tenders with a minimum locality requirement of 75 percent in the panel and module. Therefore, the panels to be used here will be panels produced in Turkey. In this sense, it will contribute to both the industry and green employment.”
While all competitions came down to a previously determined base price of 3,25 dollars-cents per kilowatt-hour, the companies that submitted the best bids in the competitions are as follows:
- In the Kütahya Solar Power Plant competition with a connection capacity of 40 MW, Çumra Solar Energy Production Inc. with a contribution of 162 thousand dollars per MW.
- Erdem Soft Tekstil AŞ with a contribution of 40 thousand dollars per MW in the Antalya Solar Power Plant competition with a connection capacity of 122 MW.
- Chen Solar Energy LTD. with a contribution of 60 thousand dollars per MW in the Van Solar Power Plant competition with a connection capacity of 270 MW.
- In the Malatya Solar Power Plant competition with a connection capacity of 75 MW, Özerka Energy Electricity Generation Inc. with a contribution of 232 thousand dollars per MW.
- In the Karaman Solar Power Plant competition with a connection capacity of 200 MW, Temmuz Solar Energy Production Inc. with a contribution of 150 thousand dollars per MW.
- In the Karapınar Solar Power Plant competition with a connection capacity of 385 MW, Kalyon YEKA Solar Power Plant 67 Electricity Production Inc. with a contribution of 5 thousand dollars per MW.
