Turkey to boost clean energy with additional funding

By Gulsen Cagatay

IZMIR (AA) - The Industrial Development Bank of Turkey committed to fund around $3.5 billion out of total investments of $9.1 billion to have over 5 gigawatts of clean energy installed capacity in Turkey, the bank's representative said on Monday.

During the World Bank workshop of the International Geothermal Conference (IGC), which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner, Bahadir Kocaker, the manager of the Development Finance Institutions Department at the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) said that the bank allows funding for 12 different themes in the country.

He explained that of the themes that are energy related, energy efficiency, renewable energy and resources efficiency are the main areas of concern.

Kocaker said the TSKB has already started to provide funding for renewable energy 12 years ago, and added that 227 renewable energy projects are planned with the help of the bank.

"Total generation capacity is to reach over 5 gigawatts, which is 15 percent of Turkey's clean energy capacity," he stated.

- Geothermal development project

The TSKB is one of the funding providers for the country's geothermal development project, the goal of which is to promote private sector investments to develop the geothermal energy sector in the country.

"The program has two dimensions - the first component is a risk sharing mechanism of exploratory drilling phases, while the second component provides a total $250 million loan facility," he said,

He stipulated that no more than 60 percent of the proceeds of the loan, around $150 million, would be allocated to sub-projects having net CO2 emissions of more than 583 grams per kilowatt-hours.

The conference, organized by the World Bank and Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) will run for three days starting Monday, May 22.

The congress will also showcase the Menderes Graben - the geothermal hotspot of Turkey and a key focus of the congress.