1 GW PV Tender Planned In Turkey

• Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak announced that his government is planning to launch solar and coal power tenders by the end of 2016
• Local media reported the minister saying that his office met power representatives in May 2016
• Turkey added 208 MW in 2015, but recent turmoils negatively impacted demand
• Turkey needs to improve infrastructure as well as service in the energy sector

The Turkish government has plans to launch solar and coal power tenders by the end of 2016. Speaking at an inauguration event of a call centre in western Turkey, country's energy minister Berat Albayrak announced that his government will be signing some very important investments and projects in the upcoming period in the energy sector', reported local news source Hurriyet Daily News.

Albayrak reportedly said that the government is keen to improve the service quality in the energy sector, as well as to improve the existing infrastructure to meet growing needs. He also said that his office had met with power grid representatives in May 2016, however, no other details are available in the matter.

A SolarPower Europe report titled Global Market Outlook 2016 sees Germany and Turkey to be the largest European solar markets in 2020. According to this report, Turkey added 208 MW of solar power capacity in 2015, but in 2020, it is expected to add 2,500 MW. The Turkish government is aiming to have 5,000 MW of solar power capacity by 2023, while increasing the share of renewables in the country's total electricity mix.

However, several incidents have caused quite some commotion among foreign solar investors. First, there was the failed coup, then there is increasing protection measures. While Turkey has been supporting locally made products in PV projects with higher feed-in tariffs, a recent tax exemption for solar module imports was terminated. On top, blaming Chinese manufacturers of dumping their modules, local manufacturers asked the Turkish Ministry of Economy to open an anti-dumping investigation, which was launched in July 2016 (see China 'Advice' To Turkey On Anti Dumping).