GURIS Holding to continue investing expecting extension of geothermal tariff in Turkey

Efeler Geothermal Plant, Turkey (source: Güris Holdings)

Müsfik Yamantürk, Chairman of the Board of GÜRIS Holding and CEO of GÜRIS Construction in Turkey, shared the situation and plans of the Group for renewable energy investments in an interview published by Dünya.

Güris is one of the leading investors in the country with its investments in renewable energy fields, geothermal, wind and hydroelectric power plants. Yamanturk stated that Group is in in the first place in Turkey with a total production capacity to 581 MW of generating electricity from wind energy.

The Group also has wind farms in Kosovo and Ukraine, as well as six hydroelectric and seven geothermal power plants.

The total installed power of the seven geothermal power plants owned by GURIS, besides 50 MW EFE 8 geothermal power plant under construction in Ayd?n Germencik, is 210 MW. In order to ensure being the locomotive of Turkey, Group has kept working despite negative impacts of Covid-19 epidemic. Yamanturk continued as follows: “We provide employment through investment as well as reducing country’s dependence on energy import. We are proud to use our 63 years of experience and knowledge for our country.”

The negative impact of Covid-19 on the supply chain put investors in a difficult situation

Underlining that the problems in the supply chain due to the Covid-19 epidemic affecting the whole world, the works in the field seriously disrupted, Yamantürk explained that the completion of the ongoing power plants and the completion of the YEKDEM application process is now an obstacle. Reminding that this situation may cause serious problems for investors, Yamantürk added his hope on the state giving an additional period of 6-8 months by announcing tha epidemic as a force majeure for the projects that are under construction.

Incentives are important for investments to continue

Yamanturk also explained the importance of incentive schemes continuity for at least 10 years, based on either Dollar on Euro currency to ensure future investments: “Otherwise, investments cannot continue due to economical feasibility and Turkey will reduce the current account deficit projects. In addition, it should not be forgotten that the projects implemented by taking advantage of the YEKDEM process will work in the free market at the end of the support period and ensure energy supply security.”

The current Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM), which will expire on December 31, 2020, continues to be a question mark not only for the geothermal sector, but for the entire renewable energy sector. The negative effects of the covid-19 epidemic has put the entire industry in trouble, according to a group of eight non-governmental organizations that came together in May 2020 that shared their point of view on the current challenges and possible solutions.

Source: JeotermalHaberler