Turkey’s Akfen eyes 1,000 MW renewable capacity with EBRD, IFC support

LONDON

Aisha Williams, Hamdi Akın, Phil Bennett

Akfen Holding, a Turkish infrastructure group, is set to increase its renewable energy portfolio to 1,000 megawatts (MW) with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, according to a press release by the company on July 24. 

The two international financial institutions each acquired a 16.67-percent stake in Akfen’s recently established subsidiary, Akfen Renewable Energy. 

Their capital injection of $200 million will help the company become one of the largest producers of renewable energy in Turkey, the statement read.

Akfen’s current portfolio of renewable projects, including operational hydro and solar power plants and several wind, solar and hydro projects under development, has a total operational capacity of 210 MW.

“We expect both institutions to make significant contributions to our company’s long-term value-creating strategies, its corporate governance, our implementing the best practices in terms of environmental and social standards, our accessing institutional investors who follow institutions such as EBRD and IFC and our reaching global standards in our current policies on transparency and accountability. The equity financing will be used for the construction and development of new and the expansion of current renewable energy investments projects,” Akfen Holding Chairman Hamdi Akın said during a press conference in London. 

“By stepping up partnership with the EBRD and IFC, we plan to become one of the key investors of Turkey in the field of renewable energy. Our goal is to create a brand new, leading platform which will generate energy from local renewable energy sources and in which corporate investors that wish to invest in renewable energy can become partners. I believe that we will reach our growth targets in this field much faster together with our foreign partners.”

“We at the EBRD believe strongly in the long term fundamentals of the Turkish economy in general and in the potential of the country’s power market in particular. Turkey remains heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels and we welcome the government’s efforts to promote sustainable renewable energy. The EBRD and IFC support will enable Akfen to make a major contribution to the country’s renewable energy sector,” EBRD First Vice President Phil Bennett said. 

Dimitris Tsitsiragos, the IFC vice president for Global Client Services, said Turkey was IFC’s second-largest country of operations globally. 

“In line with World Bank Group’s country strategy, IFC has significantly increased its investments in the power sector by investing and mobilizing $695 million in the sector over the last three years,” he said.