Types of Turkish Renewable Energy Certificates
Turkish renewable energy certificates aim to promote energy from renewable energy sources (RES) and to give consumers a renewable supply choice. The sole purpose of GO is to prove to the final customer that a given quantity of energy was produced from renewable energy sources. GOs issued in favor of each 1 MWh produced RES. Therefore, companies that purchase GOs have the right to claim their electricity supplied is renewable.
Electricity Renewable Certificates may have different names (REC, GO, I-REC and/or TIGER they are fundamentally the same thing.
Electricity Renewable Certificates are available in the majority of countries, theoretically enabling the purchase of 100% renewable energy.
In Turkey, there are several types of renewable electricity supply available today. Those certificates are mainly are:
- YEK-G certificate. The local certificates that can be provided by a regional electricity supplier that supplies energy to the consumer.
- iREC certificate. This is an international renewable energy certificate that can be purchased from any power plant in Turkey that is registered with the iREC certification system.
- Gold Standard. The renewable energy certificate issues that issued by an independent associated registered in Switzerland.
All these standards are recognized by the GHG Protocol and RE100, and so would be suitable for a business to meet renewable energy targets. Businesses can refer to the GHG Protocol’s Emissions Calculator to calculate their carbon footprint.
While the supply of renewable certificates is rather limited in Turkey, iREC is the most common option used by corporate consumers today.
Since June 1, 2021, however, there was a new local system launched “YEK-G certificate”. Before that, only iREC and Gold Standard were available in Turkey. Organized YEK-G Market is the market that is operated according to the continuous trade model by EXIST, and it is the market where YEK-G certificate is bought and sold among system users.
The procurement of green certificates is a voluntary option. So it’s up to consumers to decide whether they want renewable or non-renewable energy. In the most basic sense, all certificates are there to reduce carbon emissions while providing economic incentives to produce renewable electricity.
The cost of renewable certificates varies depending on the type, technology, origin, and other additionality criteria that a company may have. In general, the following key points shall be considered:
- Vintage – how old is the renewable certificate
- Location – where is it from
- Source – what technology was used to produce the electricity
- Age of production – when was the technology built
- Support mechanisms – is the production already supported by government investment or subsidies
- Certification body – is the certificate being issued and retired by an approved issuing body
Therefore, the price of Turkish renewable certificates can vary from 5 TL/MWh to up to 60 TL/MWh. If you are interested in sourcing renewable electricity in Turkey, I can help your business in identifying trustworthy, low price suppliers as well as can help with implementation of sustainable electricity procurement strategies. For more information about Renewable Subsidy Landscape and PPAs, please read my other article.
TEDAS Green Electricity Tariff provided by the regional companies as of Jan’22
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