Mustafa Yılmaz, Chairman of Republic of Turkey Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) stated that, after privatization, many positive developments have been recorded in the electricity distribution sector. Yılmaz, underlined that, these positive developments must be explained precisely to the public and said, “The sector will make investments worth more than 18 billion TL until 2020.”  

 

Mustafa Yilmaz, Chairman of EMRA, participated in a TV program in TRT News and made important comments on electricity sector in Turkey. Stating that electricity service in Turkey is inexpensive, Yılmaz, said "Creating an opposite perception is unfair to the government, ministry, EMRA and energy companies. We work carefully while making the tariffs. Our experts work attentive for months to provide electricity in reasonable prices to our consumers.” Yılmaz, underlined that the system is based on the satisfaction of the customers. In this perspective, the limit for being an eligible consumer is going to be set to zero in the future.

“Investments must be explained precisely”

Referring to the positive developments in electricity distribution sector after privatization, Yılmaz, stated that these positive developments must be explained to public precisely. Noting that the sector will make investments worth more than 18 billion TL until 2020, Yılmaz, said that EMRA is inspecting these investments carefully.

Source: TRT

Electricity prices for household consumers are defined as follows: Average national price in Euro per kWh including taxes and levies applicable for the first semester of each year for medium size household consumers (Consumption Band Dc with annual consumption between 2500 and 5000 kWh).

Zorlu Energy, took over shares of Osmangazi electricity companies for $360 million. With this share transfer, Zorlu Energy Group is going to provide electricity distribution service to more than 1.5 million consumers in the distribution region, including Eskişehir, Bilecik, Uşak, Afyon and Kütahya provinces. This region has the share of 4% in Turkey's electricity consumption.

Being one of the leading companies in energy sector, Zorlu signed a protocol on February 2nd, to take over shares of Osmangazi Electricity Distribution Company and Osmangazi Electricity Retail Sales Company. For two companies, Zorlu Energy paid $360 million.  

“Our investments will continue”
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ahmet Zorlu, Chairman of Zorlu Holding, said: "In the coming years, we will continue to invest in efficient and sustainable areas including electricity and gas distribution and trading."

“We are pleased to bring our 25 years of expertise to Osmangazi DSO”

Sinan Ak, Head of Zorlu Energy Group, said: “As Zorlu Energy Group, we are pleased to bring our 25 years of experience and expertise to the Osmangazi Electricity Distribution Region. Zorlu Group, always made a difference with its service quality, understanding of sustainability and experience. We will do our best for providing the best service in electricity distribution and retail sectors too.”

Along with the developments in renewable energy, wind energy is getting stronger across the globe. Offshore wind stands out with the support and R&D projects. According to EU Result Magazine  offshore wind is considered as a cornerstone of an energy independent Europe. As European Wind Energy Association’s (EWEA) figures show, in 2015, Europe counted over 3.000 offshore wind turbines in 82 farms spanning 11 countries, for a total of 10.39 GW of wind energy capacity. By 2020, this figure is expected to grow to 23.5 GW. The association also states that it could save Europe some EUR 18 billion on fuel imports.

Research and development, is crucial to reaching this objective. Despite significant efforts and funding of research programmes, it is stated that there is still room for improvement to make offshore wind turbines more efficient, more cost-effective and more reliable.  

25 projects funded by FP7

FP7 saw 25 projects funded in the field of offshore wind for a total of EUR 169 million, whereas H2020 is set to push the boundaries even further. Here are some examples of these projects…

  • FLOATGEN is looking to pioneer the expected burgeoning of offshore floating wind farms in European waters. To do so, it will set up a 2 MW turbine in the Atlantic Ocean, at the SEM-REV test site located 12 nautical miles from the city of Le Croisic. The seven-strong consortium hopes that this groundbreaking set-up will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of floating wind turbines and enable their development in windy and deep waters that are currently not commercially viable. Paul de la Guérivière, CEO of Ideol and coordinator of the project says, “Floating wind power is slowly but surely establishing itself as a viable alternative to bottom-fixed wind power. Within this framework, Europe, and especially France with its Mediterranean deep waters, has to be ready to not only compete in this burgeoning market, but actually seize the opportunity to become true market leaders.”(1)/(2)

 

  • The EU-funded TOWERPOWER project is developing reliable new techniques to continuously monitor the structural condition of offshore wind turbines. Optimising maintenance and inspections is a key way to help the sector achieve cost efficiencies. The project, is entering its final year. It is currently integrating cutting edge inspection techniques and preparing for final testing on offshore wind turbines. Project Coordinator Dr. Céline Auger from Capenergies says, “We will produce a best practice and standardisation approach for test methods and implement a programme of information and training for inspection personnel. This will add great value to the wind sector as there are at present no standards for the inspection of these structural component.” (3)
  • MEDOW (Multi-terminal DC grid for offshore wind) project is a Marie-Curie action with two purposes: training a new pool of researchers and cross-fertilising expertise in DC grids; and studying operational issues related to their adoption in offshore wind farms. It is stated by MEDOW coordinator Jun Liang of Cardiff University that, “The number of HVDC connections is not so small in Europe, with a foreseen growth of 30+ HVDC connections within the next five years, starting with undersea connections, but later on even with longer overhead lines. The only possible solution to meeting energy needs in the long term lies in MTDC networks connecting the whole continent and the RES in the North Sea via offshore grids — which is commonly called the European Supergrid. The most important contribution of the project is how it managed to bring together academia and industries to work on MTDC grid development, towards a sustainable Europe.” (4)

 

Source: EU Result Magazine /November 2016

Article
An Assessment Of Incentive Regulation In Electricity Networks: The Story So Far
By: Haikel Khalfallah

Network regulation is playing an active role in a context of restructuring energy systems for long term transition to a smart grid. Regulation of network companies’ activities should consider both cost efficiency objectives and other objectives such as quality and network innovation. It is in this context that incentive regulation tools are discussed and assessed in this paper. The aim is to show their key features and how they could be aligned with the main regulation goals. This paper concludes that they should be considered as complementary tools to address conflicting regulatory aspects in an efficient manner.

Read More…

Turkish Electricity Sector in Details


Source: AA/ “Turkey's electricity imports in 2016 down by 17%”

Agenda

Ecology’17
February 17-18, 2017/Istanbul, Turkey

Distributech
January 31- February 02 2017 / San Diego, CA

New and Renewable Energy Resources for Sustainable Future
February 02-04, 2017/ India

Middle East Electricity
February 14-16, 2017 / Dubai World Center

International Smart Cities Conference 2
March 01, 2017/ ATO Congresium, Ankara, Turkey

Electrical Vehicle Congress (EEVC 2017)
March 14-16, 2017/Geneva

International Clean Coal Summit
March 22-23, 2017/Istanbul, Turkey

Power&Electricity World Africa 2017
March 28- 29, 2017/Johannesburg

19. Electric Power Conference&Exhibition
April 10-13, 2017/Chicago

5th International Istanbul Smart Grids and Cities Congress and Fair ICSG Istanbul 2017
April 19-21, 2017/Istanbul, Turkey

23rd International Energy & Environment Fair & Conference
May 03-05, 2017/Istanbul, Turkey