The long-awaited legal regulations for energy storage investments have come into effect.
With six separate regulations and eleven separate Board Decisions published in the Official Gazette on November 19, 2022, a legal framework has been created for energy storage investment processes. The changes made in the Electricity Market License Regulation determined the conditions for granting a license right without a competition for wind and solar energy investments in exchange for an electricity storage investment commitment.
Accordingly, energy investors can apply for an electricity production license with a minimum of 20 MWe for wind energy and a minimum of 10 MWe for solar energy for an energy storage investment commitment, limited to a maximum of 250 MWe. The electric storage units to be built must be located within the subject power plant area of the application and the requested mechanical installed power should not exceed twice the electrical installed power.
After the applications are taken and evaluated by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ) will give a connection view until the regional capacities are reached.
Moreover, these views will not be deemed valid if they are given within the scope of TEİAŞ’s 5 and 10-year Capacity Projections. These projects based on wind and solar energy will also be exempt from measurement requirements.
While the positive opinions given for projects with a power of 250 MW and below will remain valid, for projects over 250 MW, the power above 250 MW will be determined by adding half of the power above 250 MW to the 250 MW limit. The right to be granted will be limited to 500 MW in any case.
Three-month period for independent licenses
However, legal entities that currently have independent electricity generation licenses can convert these licenses into supply licenses within three months.
According to the regulation, legal entities who have previously received a favorable opinion for establishing an independent electricity storage facility based on their existing electricity generation licenses will have their connection views valid for their pre-license applications if they apply within three months from the date the regulation comes into effect.
Can be installed for unlicensed plants
With the changes made in the Storage Activities Regulation, the right to make storage investments for unlicensed electricity generation facilities has also been granted. However, these investments must comply with the “materials used in the electricity generation facility and connection equipment must be manufactured in accordance with relevant legislation and standards, covered by a warranty, and produced within the last five years” condition in Article 37(6) of the Unlicensed Electricity Generation Regulation.
They will benefit from YEKDEM
The electricity energy produced in these wind and solar power plants to be built and stored in the storage units will also be evaluated and supported within the Renewable Energy Support Mechanism (YEKDEM). The amounts of energy transmitted to the system from the energy production facilities with storage will not be taken into account in settlement calculations, while distribution companies will be obligated to report data on electricity storage facilities to TEİAŞ via the SCADA system.
