KAYRIL KARABEYOĞLU

Akfen Renewable Energy General Manager

In the first half of 2016, we realized the foundations of today’s restructuring within the scope of the vision of gathering all renewable energy sources companies that Akfen Holding started to invest in 2007 on a single platform. This restructuring was designed with the flexibility to ensure that our country produces stable and regular electricity and cash flows from different renewable energy sources in every season of the year, and that we can sell the electricity we produce through the most suitable channels according to the market conditions. As of today, we have reached a portfolio size of 713 MW with 356 MW of WPP, 236 MW of HEPP and 121 MW of SPP. All of this portfolio is in operation except the 13 MW SPP and 7 MW WPP that are under construction. Akfen 67% of Akfen Renewable Energy company’s current capital belongs to Akfen Holding, 17% to EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and 16% to IFC (International Finance Corporation). The size of our investments within Akfen Renewable has reached approximately 1.2 billion dollars. We maintain our target as reaching 1000 MW in 2020 and we are implementing our strategies to achieve this goal. We reached 71% of the target with 713 MW that we currently own. We acquired the Demirciler and Sarıtepe wind power plants of Zorlu Energy with an installed capacity of 80 MW in February. Following this process, we made proposals for 3 renewable energy portfolios. The total installed power of the projects we are working on is approximately 1,500 MW. Our work on new acquisitions continue at the same pace. What are the biggest challenges in renewable energy right now? What can be the measures to be taken against this? Which area do you think will offer the most opportunities and growth in the renewable energy sector? How much is this included in your plans? The biggest challenge is legal uncertainties. For example, the price mechanism of YEKDEM and the domestic contribution regulation after 2020 are not yet clear. For this reason, many companies have suspended their investments. In addition, frequently changing regulations (contribution etc.) is a big problem. Energy investments are long-term investments and therefore it is very important to make longterm projections. Due to the rapidly falling panel prices in terms of the global market, we estimate that the fastest growth will be in the field of solar energy. We think that wind energy will follow. These two types of energy are the most prominent areas for us in the coming period. Another very important issue in the field of renewable energy is installation of storage systems. 3500 MW storage investment was made in 2018. This figure is 2 times of 2017. In 2019, an investment of approximately 5.5 billion dollars was made in this field. In short, the numbers grow exponentially. And when we look at the current situation, only 1% of renewable energy sources are connected to a storage system. We think that the technological developments and increasing capacity in storage systems will be a very important factor in the field of renewable energy.