Turkey to hold solar power auctions in early 2022 for 1.5 GW of capacity

Turkey announced that applications for the upcoming auctions for photovoltaic plants would be received on January 12. The YEKA GES-5 round is for solar power plants of 10 MW, 20 MW and 30 MW throughout the country, with a combined capacity of 1.5 GW.

The government is late again with plans for renewable energy auctions, but it revealed a surprising increase in the capacity at the next round of auctions for solar power plants. Applications will be received by January 12 for 76 units with a stunning 1.5 GW in total. The round was supposed to be held by the end of this year.

The schedule for the YEKA GES-5, under the Renewable Energy Resources Area (YEKA) scheme, will be published later. Potential investors will compete at the round of auctions for power purchase agreements for future solar power plants with the capacity of 10 MW, 20 MW and 30 MW in 23 provinces.

The government envisages the biggest capacity in Diyarbakır, Van and Malatya – 120 MW each.

YEKA GES-5 round of solar power auction set to be held before YEKA GES-4

Applicants must provide bank guarantees of EUR 487,000 per 10 MW. The winners will have to replace them with two times bigger guarantees valid for ten years.

It seems YEKA GES-5 will be held before the YEKA GES-4 round. In July, the government scheduled the submission of applications for 1 GW in solar power capacity for March 30. It is for 15 units with the capacity of 50 MW or 100 MW in just three districts: Bor, Erzin and Viranşehir.

Lowest bid wins

The initial ceiling price in both rounds is 0.4 TRY per kWh or 3.9 eurocents, according to the current exchange rate. It translates to only EUR 39 per MWh. The participant with the lowest bid wins.

The contract lasts until the operator delivers 23 GWh to the grid for each megawatt installed, which may take more than a decade.

The last round of auctions, YEKA GES-3, was conducted in April and May. Accepted bids went to as low as TRY 0.182 per kWh, which can currently buy 1.77 eurocents. The Turkish lira has lately been trading at or near record lows. The ceiling price in YEKA GES-3 was TRY 0.35 per kWh.

Turkish company Kalyon started producing electricity at the first phase of its 1 GW Karapınar solar power plant in June. It won the deal in 2017 at YEKA GES-1. YEKA GES-2 was canceled in 2019.

Wind power auctions YEKA RES-1 and YEKA-RES 2 were held in 2017 and 2019, respectively, for 1 GW each. YEKA RES-3, for 2 GW, is slated for the fourth quarter.