Wind energy investors face key deadline

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Investment licenses for firms wanting to enter the wind energy market will be decertified by Turkey’s market regulator unless construction for projects begins by May 2014.

Turkish Wind Energy Association head Mustafa Serdar Ataseven said that up to 22 projects, worth $1.5 million, could face cancellation from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority if they did not meet the May 2 deadline set by an electricity market law passed in 2013.

He said that some of the projects had valid reasons for being delayed, with many having been hampered by long legal procedures, but that the regulator was negotiating with such investors. “I hope this problem is solved soon, otherwise wind energy investments would come to a stopping point,” said Ataseven.

Emphasizing Turkey’s aim to produce 20,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2014, Ataseven said Turkey was ranked among the top 10 countries in terms of installed capacities in Europe, according to Global Wind Energy Council statistics.