ARTICLE IN PRESS

Energy Policy 37 (2009) 3872–3879

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Assessment of small hydropower (SHP) development in Turkey:

Laws, regulations and EU policy perspective
Serhat Kucukali a,, Kemal Baris b,1
a
Civil Engineering Department, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Incivez, 67100 Zonguldak, Turkey
b
Mining Engineering Department, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Incivez, 67100 Zonguldak, Turkey

a r t i c l e in f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper aims to evaluate the development of small hydropower (SHP) in Turkey and discusses the
Received 5 February 2009 current situation of SHP plants in terms of government policy, economical aspects and environmental
Accepted 4 June 2009 impacts taking EU policy into account. The laws published in recent years in Turkey succeeded in
Available online 26 June 2009
promoting the utilization of renewable energy for electricity generation, but it is considered that those
Keywords: laws are not fully compatible with EU policy. After the publication of Renewable Energy Law (Law No.
Turkey renewable energy law 5346) there occurred a boost in SHP project along with hydropower development. Thus, the hydropower
Small hydropower potential of Turkey increased 15% and the construction of hydropower plants also increased by a factor
European Union of four in 2007 as compared to 2006. Investment and operating costs are in favor of SHP development in
Turkey as having the lowest costs among European countries (300–1000 h/kW as investment cost and 1
hcent/kWh as operating cost). Turkish governments have taken precautions for environmental issues
resulted from renewable energy utilization but these are obviously not adequate. It is concluded that
more attention must be paid on environmental issues and monitoring of the facilities must be enabled
with further laws or regulations.
& 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Electricity Administration. The first law setting up a framework

Rapid increase of population and industrialization in the 20th
century brought a huge energy demand. According to United
States Department of Energy (US DOE, 2005), total world
consumption of marketed energy is projected to increase by 57%
from 2004 to 2030. Energy is considered to be a significant factor
in economic development and prime agent in generation of
wealth. Much of the world’s energy, however, is currently
produced and consumed in ways that could not be sustained if
technology were to remain constant and if overall quantities were
to increase substantially. Electricity supply infrastructures in
many developing countries are being rapidly expanded as
policy-makers and investors around the world increasingly
recognize the pivotal role of electricity in improving living
standards and sustaining economic growth (Field and Raupach,
2004).
In Turkey, the monopoly of public sector on electricity
generation was abolished in 1982 and the private sector was
allowed to build power plants and sell their electricity to Turkish
 Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 372 25740 10/1631.
E-mail addresses: serhatkucukali@karaelmas.edu.tr (S. Kucukali),
kemalbaris@karaelmas.edu.tr (K. Baris).
1
Tel.: +90 372 25740 10/1525.
for private participation in electricity industry was enacted in
1984 (Law No. 3096). This Law forms the legal basis for private
participation through Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) contracts
for new generation facilities. An additional law, namely the Build
Operate and Own (BOO) Law (No. 4283), for private sector
participation in the construction and operation of new power
plants was also enacted in 1997 again with guarantees provided
by the Treasury (Erdogdu, 2007).
Energy (E) is one of Turkey’s most important development
priorities. Turkey has quite miscellaneous energy resources
including hard coal, lignite, oil, hydropower, natural gas, geother-
mal, wood, animal and plant wastes and solar. However,
utilization of these resources is not adequate to meet the demand
of the country. The energy demand of Turkey has been growing
more rapidly than the energy production since it is a socially and
economically developing country (Fig. 1).
Insufficient government efforts have forced Turkey to increase
its dependence on foreign energy supplies. Instead of sufficiently
promoting the usage of domestic energy resources and taking
necessary precautions governments has relied highly on foreign
energy supplies. Thus, for example, the share of natural gas by the
year 2005 as a thermal power plant fuel reached to 60% though
Turkey has insufficient natural gas reserves (EUAS, 2008). In the
case of hydropower, although utilization of hydropower to
produce electricity has been promoted in last decades, share of

0301-4215/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.06.023
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
S. Kucukali, K. Baris / Energy Policy 37 (2009) 3872–3879 3873

120 250
Domestic Production
Production and Consumption (mtoe)
Domestic energy production

Consumption / Production (mtoe)

Total Consumption
100 Total energy consumption
200

80

Total Energy
Total Energy

150
60
100
40
50
20
0
0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006
Years
Years
Fig. 3. Projections on domestic energy production and total energy consumption
Fig. 1. Trends in total energy production and consumption of Turkey between 1970 of Turkey between 2010 and 2020 (data source: EUAS, 2008).
and 2006 (data source: EUAS, 2008).

China achieved a considerable success in SHP development. In

90 China, 19,000 micro-hydropower plants (Po0.1 MW) with a total
Total Share in Electricity Production (%)

80 installed capacity of 687 MW and 19,606 mini-hydropower plants

(0.1oPo1 MW) with a total installed capacity of 7171 MW were
70
constructed between 1994 and 2004 (Jiandong and Damodaran,
60 2004). Punys and Pelikan (2007) stated that SHP has been
50 harnessed for more than 100 years in most of EU member states
and candidate countries among which Czech Republic, Romania,
40
Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Slovakia are the leading countries.
30 They also stated that a very small portion of the potential has been
20 Hydropower harnessed in Turkey. According to the WEC (2007), Turkey uses
Thermal 7.7% of its total small hydropower potential (8.7 TWh/yr) for the
10 year 2005.
0 SHP deserves a special attention in Turkey regarding its huge
1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
economically feasible potential. In this context, this paper was
Years aimed to evaluate the development of small hydropower in
Fig. 2. Share of thermal and hydropower in total electricity production in Turkey Turkey and discusses its SHP potential concerning the economical
between 1990 and 2005 (data source: EUAS, 2008). aspects, the government policy, and the comparison of environ-
mental effects with other renewables.

hydropower in total electricity production in Turkey has had a

decreasing trend while that of thermal power plants had an 2. Hydropower potential of Turkey and status of SHP
increasing trend as seen in Fig. 2. As a result Turkey has inevitably
become a net energy importing country even though the total Turkey has the highest hydropower potential in Europe with its
installed capacity has increased from 2234 to 41,744 MW between 216 TWh/yr technical hydropower energy (Table 3). Turkey uses
1970 and 2008 (EUAS, 2008). It was reported that 74% of Turkey’s 18.3% (39.6 TWh) of this technical hydropower potential for the
total energy demand was met by imported energy in 2007 (EUAS, year 2005. However, other European countries exploit their
2008). This trend is expected to continue in coming years as economically feasible hydropower potential (EHP) within the
projected in Fig. 3. More detailed information can be found about range 65–100%. The economically feasible hydropower potential
the development of Turkish energy sector elsewhere (Hepbasli of Turkey has an upward trend within last decades (Fig. 4). The
and Ozalp, 2003; Erdogdu, 2007). EHP of Turkey increased by a factor of three in 2006 compared to
Approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, 1960. This may be resulted from the specific policy features and
a resource that has been exploited for many centuries. the external factors such as oil prices (Bakır, 2001; Unsal and
Hydropower is certainly the largest and most mature application Onoz, 2006). For the year 2006, Turkey has a total hydropower
of renewable technologies. A total of 22% of the world’s electricity potential of 36,750 MW. 35% of this potential has been harnessed
production comes from hydropower installations, many of and 9% is under construction. Furthermore, 573 hydropower
which are small hydropower (SHP) plants of less than 10 MW plants with a total capacity of 20,765 MW have been planned.
(Table 1). Turkey has been divided into 26 river basins (Fig. 5); however
There is no international consensus on the definition of small 97% of its hydropower potential is distributed into 14 river basins
hydropower. In China, it can refer to installed capacity (P) of up (Table 4) which are mostly situated on the mountainous areas.
to 25 MW, in India up to 15 MW and in Sweden small means up to Euphrates River, with its 127,304 km2 drainage area and elevation
1.5 MW. However, a capacity of up to 10 MW total is becoming the range between 500 and 5000 m, itself responsible for 30% of
generally accepted norm by The European Small Hydropower the country’s hydropower potential. Turkey’s biggest hydro-
Association (ESHA), the European Commission (EU) and Interna- power plants were constructed on the Euphrates River namely:
tional Union of Producers and Distributors of Electricity (UNI- Ataturk (P ¼ 2400 MW), Karakaya (P ¼ 1800 MW) and Keban
PEDE). SHP plants have found an extensive application in (P ¼ 1330 MW). Moreover, the Black Sea region, which has steep
electricity production both in EU and the world and it is projected and rocky mountains that extend along the coastline, has a
to increase in near future. Table 2 reveals the installed capacities considerable hydropower potential. Eastern Black Sea region is of
of SHP plants in EU and the world between 1980 and 2010. particular importance in terms of hydropower potential. This is
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3874 S. Kucukali, K. Baris / Energy Policy 37 (2009) 3872–3879

Table 1
Projections of electricity demand of Turkey by sectors.

Years Demand (TWh/year) Industry (TWh/year) Domestic (TWh/year) Transport (TWh/year) Agriculture (TWh/year)

2008 206,400 83,558 79,050 1377 4615

2009 223,500 91,823 86,250 1507 4820
2010 242,020 100,882 94,093 1651 5026
2011 262,000 110,665 102,900 1810 5225
2012 283,500 120,786 112,500 1982 5432
2013 306,100 131,682 122,500 2168 5650
2014 330,300 142,853 133,000 2372 5875
2015 356,200 154,940 143,430 2593 6108
2016 383,000 168,110 153,600 2835 6356
2017 410,700 182,087 163,800 3100 6613
2018 439,600 197,431 174,000 3388 6881
2019 469,500 212,438 184,700 3703 7159
2020 499,490 227,767 195,302 4047 7449

Data source: Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MENR) of Turkey, 2008.

Table 2
Growth in SHP capacity in European union and the world.

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010a

EU installed capacity (MW) 5900 6700 7700 9000 9600 10,300 11,000
World installed capacity (MW) 19,000 21,000 24,000 27,900 37,000 46,000 55,000

Data source: EUREC, 2002.

a
Projection.

Table 3
Comparison of Turkey hydropower potential with some European countries.

Country Technical hydropower Economically feasible hydropower Actual generation in Developed economical
potential (TWh/yr) potential in 2005 (TWh/yr) 2005 (TWh/yr) potential (%)

Turkey 216 130 39.6 30

Norway 200 187 136.6 73
Sweden 100 85 72.9 86
France 100 70 56.4 81
Italy 105 65 42.9 66
Austria 75 56 38.6 69
Switzerland 43 41 33.1 81
Spain 66 32 23.0 72
Germany 25 20 26.7 134
UK 3 1 7.9 789

Data source: Hydropower & Dams World Atlas, 2006.

140 Turkey has a mountainous landscape with an average elevation

of 1132 m that is about three times higher than the Europe’s
120 average. This topography favors the formation of high gradient
mountain streams which are suitable locations for SHP develop-
100
EHP (TWh/year)

ment. In Turkey for the year 2006, there are 38 small hydro plants
80 (1oPo10 MW) with a total capacity of 179 MW and 31 mini hydro
plants (0.1oPo1 MW) with a total capacity of 51 MW are in
60 operation (Table 5). Furthermore, 225 small hydro plants with a
total capacity of 1032 MW and 30 mini hydro plants with a total
40
capacity of 159 MW have been planned.
20

0 3. Government policy towards SHP

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005
Time (year) Turkey is one of European Union (EU) candidate countries,
thus, it is expected that the laws of Turkey have to be compatible
Fig. 4. Variation of Turkey’s economically feasible hydropower potential (EHP)
with years. to EU laws and policy. In the context of energy production, EU
promotes electricity generation from renewable energy sources.
because of having a high capacity factor, which is the ratio of The main instruments for promoting renewables are feed-in
actual operating hour per year to total hours per year. 20% of the tariffs, quota obligations, tenders and (energy) tax exemptions
projects developed by private sector have been planned for this (Reiche and Bechberger, 2004). In Germany, for example, after
basin. the publication of Renewable Energy Law in 2000, electricity
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S. Kucukali, K. Baris / Energy Policy 37 (2009) 3872–3879 3875

BLACK SEA N 0 100 km

13 SCALE
1.MERIC
2 13-WEST
13 BLACK SEA
2 2-MARMARA 22-EAST 23-CORUH
2 BLACK SEA 24-ARAS
14-YESILIRMAK
2
12-SAKARYA
3-SUSURLUK 15-KIZILIRMAK
4-AEGEAN
5-GEDÝZ 21-EUPHRATES 25-VAN
AEGEAN SEA

11-AFYON LAKE
7-BIG
4 18-SEYHAN
MENDERES
6-SMALL 16-ANATOLIA 26-TIGRIS
MENDERES 10-BURDUR 20-CEYHAN
LAKE
9-MIDDLE
MEDITERRANEAN
8-WEST 19-HATAY
17-EAST
MEDITERRANEAN MEDITERRANEAN

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Fig. 5. River Basins of Turkey.

Table 4
Economically feasible hydropower potential of major Turkey River Basins in 2006.

River basin Energy potential (GWh/year) Power potential (MW) Drainage area (km2) Runoff (Tm3/year)

Euphrates 37,823 9555 120,917 33.48

Tigris 16,562 4890 51,489 21.81
East Black Sea 13,194 3900 24,022 14
- oruh
C 10,973 3247 19,894 6.46
Seyhan 6957 1788 20,731 7.06
East Mediterranean 6749 1856 22,484 12.27
Kızılırmak 6420 2116 78,646 6.28
Ceyhan 5996 1779 21,222 7.21
Antalya 5345 1437 22,615 7.76
Yes- ilırmak 4984 1257 36,129 5.54
West Mediterranean 3240 881 14,518 11.24
Sakarya 2585 1191 56,504 6.03
West Black Sea 2149 642 29,682 10.04
Aras 2692 868 27,548 5.54

Total 125,669 35,407 546,401 155

Table 5
Small hydropower status in Turkey in 2006.

Micro HP Mini HP Small HP

In operation Under construction Planned In operation Under construction Planned In operation Under construction Planned

Total number 5 – – 31 – 41 38 8 225

P (MW) 0.5 – – 14 – 30 179 45 1032
E (GWh) 3 – – 51 – 159 669 228 4637

Data source: DSI, 2006.

production from wind and solar power increased by a factor of 5
and 50 by the year 2007, respectively.
To increase the energy production in Turkey and thus to
decrease its dependence on foreign energy supplies, attempts
have been being made by the governments to enhance the
utilization of current sources and to promote the utilization of
renewable energy resources. Among these renewable energy
sources of Turkey, small hydropower is regarded as one of the
most stable and economical clean energy sources in the renew-
able energy alternatives in Turkey. As clearly seen in Fig. 6,
renewables occupy only a share of 19% of the total electrical
energy sources in Turkey. To increase the share of renewables
several laws and regulations were published.
In Turkey, the publication of Electricity Market Law (Law No.
4628) of March 2001 led to the establishment of Electricity
Market Regulatory Authority. This brings private sector legal
entities to obtain a license granted from this authority to build
and operate a power plant (Table 6). Moreover, after the
publication of Renewable Energy Law (Law No. 5346) of May
2005, government guarantees to buy electricity from legal entities
with a price of 5.5 hcent/kWh for duration of 10 years. Besides,
85% discount has been being applied for forest land acquisition to
build SHP plants. Moreover, in July 2008, Law No. 5784 was
published stating that the legal entities are not required to apply
for a license to generate electricity from renewable energy up to a
capacity of 500 kW and government guarantees the buy the excess
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Geothermal+wind Table 7
0.3% Government support for electricity generation for SHPs in some European
Hydro countries.
18.7%
Coal Country Feed-in Tariffa (hcent/kWh)

27.9%
Belgium 12.5
Germany 7.67 (o500 kW)
6.65 (500 kW–5 MW)
Greece 6.29
Spain 6.49
France 11.57 (o500 kW)
10.48 (500 kW–12 MW)
Ireland 6.41
Italy 14.6
Austria 3.15–6.25
Portugal 7.2
Fuel-oil Finland 3.02+subsidy of 30% of investment cost (o1 MW)
3.4% Sweden 4.9
UK 2.38 (o20 MW)
Turkey 5.5 (no limitation on installed capacity)

Data source: ESHA, 2004.

a
Average values.
Natural gas Total: 191.5 TWh/year (2007)
49.7%

Fig. 6. Share of the electrical energy sources in Turkey for the year 2007 (data creates a conflict between Turkey and EU policy. In European
source: TEIAS, 2007).
Union Member States, countries limit the installed capacity
(Ringel, 2006) and give the sector extra payments if they build
SHP plant (Table 7).
Table 6 In Turkey, a company intended to have an SHP license must
Turkey new energy laws concerning the small hydropower development.
sign Water Usage Rights Act with General Directorate of State
Law no Publication Objective Contribution Hydraulic Works (DSI). In this context, the company must meet
date the requirements stated in this act. In applications to have an SHP
license, river basin plan prepared by DSI is taken into account. In
4628 March 2001 To ensure the The Electricity Market Turkey, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) report was not
development of a Regulatory Authority had
required for hydropower plants below 50 MW installed capacity
financially sound been established. Private
and transparent sector legal entities should before 17 July 2008. However, a regulation was issued on this date
electricity market obtain a license from Energy stating that hydropower plants having an installed capacity
operating in a Market Regulatory Authority between 0.5 and 25 MW have to undertake an EIS. However, this
competitive to be engaged in the market;
regulation did not have an effect expected since many of licenses
environment to build a power plant and to
operate it
for hydropower plants were granted before the publication of this
5346 May 2005 Promotion of the Government guarantees the regulation.
use of renewable buy the electricity with a Table 8 clearly shows the influence of the Renewable Energy
energy resources price of 5–5.5 hcent/kWh for Law on the development of hydropower plants in Turkey. The
for electric 10 years from legal entities
hydropower potential increased 15% in 2007 as compared to 2006.
generation which are holding a
renewable energy source Moreover, the construction of hydropower plants increased by a
certificate. factor of four in 2007 as compared to 2006 and the planned plants
5784 July 2008 Promotion of a Legal entities are not required are almost doubled. New projects are mostly SHP plants, as the
more efficient to apply for a license, or to
planned installed capacity raised only 7% as compared to 2006
electricity market formally incorporate their
activity to generate electricity
(Kucukali, 2008).
from renewable energy up to As of March 2008, private sector developed a total of 1064
a capacity of 500 kW and hydropower projects in Turkey with a total installed capacity of
government guarantees the 6500 MW. These projects are mostly small hydropower plants.
buy the excess electricity
This indicates that the Turkey’s economically feasible hydropower
potential is much higher than 130 TWh/year which was calculated
before the publication of Law No. 5346. It is estimated, now, that
the total potential will reach 150 TWh/year as a result of projects
electricity (Table 6). This law is expected to attract entrepreneurs developed by private sector. Also, Law No. 5346 had a clear effect
to invest on mini- and micro-hydropower plants. on the installed capacity of geothermal and wind energy. The
For hydropower plants, Law No. 5346 encompasses a reservoir installed capacities of these energy sources increased from
area less than 15 km2 and there is no limitation for installed 35.1 MW in 2005 to 169.2 MW in 2007 (TEIAS, 2007).
capacities. This causes interest of private sector shift from river-
type hydropower plants to large hydropower system because of
potentially higher profit rates although private sector investments 4. Environmental impacts of SHP plants in comparison with
in SHP plant construction have increased. For example, Koprubasi other renewable resources
Dam, which is situated on the West Black Sea Basin, having a
height of 108 m, a reservoir area of 5.9 km2 and 79 MW of installed In practice, no form of energy production is completely free of
capacity lays within the frame of Law No. 5346. However, this effects on the environment. Renewable energy sources have also
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Table 8
The status of hydropower plants in Turkey in 2006 and 2007.

In operation (2006) In operation (2007) Under construction (2006) Under construction (2007) Planned (2006) Planned (2007)

Total number 142 148 40 158 573 977

Installed capacity (MW) 12,788 13,306 3,197 6,564 20,765 22,260
Energy (GWh/year) 45,930 47,590 10,518 23,620 73,851 79,177

Data source: DSI, 2006; Tutus, 2008.

Table 9 Table 10
Comparison of potential environmental impacts of renewable energy sources. Comparison of average capital costs for some renewables in World and Turkey.

Type of Type of Average capital cost in worlda Average capital cost in Turkeyb
Potential environmental impact
renewable renewable (h/kW) (h/kW)

SHP Blockage of fish passage and interruption of sediment transport SHP 1000 650
Wind Noise, visual impacts, avian and bat mortality Wind 920 900
Geothermal Thermal pollution, damage to natural geothermal features, Geothermal 1230 1440
subsidence Solar PV 5400 NA
Solar PV PV panel disposal
a
Data source: REN21, 2005.
b
Calculated from finished projects.

negative environmental effects though they are called as green
energy. Table 9 shows a comparison of potential environmental
impacts of renewable energy development. However, these
negative effects can not be compared to those of primary energy
sources.
Utilization of thermal energy sources causes negative environ-
mental effects which are difficult to recover such as air, water
pollution and greenhouse effect. Furthermore, utilization of
geothermal fluids may also have harmful effects on the environ-
ment such as, damage to natural geothermal features, subsidence
and polluting waterways. Development of wind energy has some
visual impacts along with noise problems and avian and bat
mortality. Solar energy seems to have less environmental impacts
among renewables. However, some PV systems use small amounts
of toxic chemicals such as cadmium and selenium. Thus, disposal
at the end of useful life of PV systems is a potential environmental
issue.
As in utilization of other renewable energy sources, SHP plants
also have effects on natural environment. Primarily, they prevent
the connection between upstream and downstream of the facility.
Therefore, it has deteriorative consequences such as blockage of
fish passages and protection, and interruption of sediment
transport. To solve these problems, effective fish passages for
local and migrating fish species should be provided.
The impact of SHP plants on natural environment must be
closely monitored, and laws and regulations must be published
by governments to minimize the negative effects. In Turkey,
the facility should comply with the requirements of Water
Usage Rights Act signed between the company and General
Directorate of State of Hydraulics. According to this act, the
facility should maintain a minimum flow (also defined as
environmental flow) determined by General Directorate of State
of Hydraulics in the river that is adequate for the existing
fish population, wildlife and water quality taking seasonal
fluctuations in flow levels into account. However, there is not a
standard for the determination of the environmental flow in
Turkey. Recently, a problem has been occurred in the construction
of Cevizlik hydropower plant in East Black Sea Basin because of
this issue.
The facility should also not contribute to deterioration of water
quality either upstream or downstream of the facility. Although
construction of fish passages is obligatory in most of European
countries, there is no such obligation for SHP projects defined by
laws or regulations in Turkey. This could cause loss of fish and/or
fish habitat in the project area.
5. Financing of SHP in Turkey
Turkey is the sixth largest electricity market in Europe, and one
of the fastest growing globally. In the early 2000s, Turkish
government has initiated an ambitious reform program in the
most important segments of its energy market to meet the
growing electricity demand. This reform program requires
privatization, liberalization, restructuring of these industries,
followed by enhancement of competition (Erdogdu, 2007). More-
over, Turkish Government has made a strong push for increased
electricity generation from renewable energy sources by publish-
ing Turkey Renewable Energy Law. Hence, Turkey is aiming to
connect to the grid 10,000 MW of wind capacity alone by 2020
and exploit its total hydropower potential by building more small
hydropower plants.
A special incentive package has been developed for the
promotion of the SHP in Turkey. As electricity generation using
renewable resources has been gaining importance in Turkey as
well as all around the World (Kammen, 2006), special financing
opportunities has become available. Industrial Development Bank
of Turkey (TSKB) has been providing the loans since 2001 for
setting up hydropower (including SHP plants) as well as other
renewable developments for electricity generation in Turkey. It
has provided loans for a total of 52 hydropower plants (1941 MW),
2 wind plants (53 MW) and 2 geothermal plants (57.2 MW) for
electricity generation. Turkey has also been in receipt of a number
of international grants to finance its renewable energy projects
over the last 5 years. Recently, the World Bank approved US$ 600
million for financing a renewable energy and energy efficiency
project in Turkey, in May 2009.
Table 10 presents a comparison of capital costs of some
renewable energy sources in the World and in Turkey. As seen in
table, SHP is the cheapest choice among other renewable energy
sources. Furthermore, investment and operating cost in Turkey are
very low in comparison with other European countries (Table 11).
This is considered to be resulted from the low construction and
labor cost. In addition to conditions described in the government
policy section, it is obvious that these low costs are also in favor of
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3878 S. Kucukali, K. Baris / Energy Policy 37 (2009) 3872–3879

Table 11 project applications with an installed capacity of 6500 MW by

Operating and investment costs of SHP in some European countries. private sector in Turkey. It is obvious that, the installed capacity of
6500 MW was a clear contribution to Turkey’s economical
Country Operating cost (hcent/kWh) Investment cost (h/kW)
hydropower potential though it was not included by government
Belgium 1.8 3700–4960 agencies in the calculation of economical hydropower potential
Germany 5 4000–6000 by the year 2006. Furthermore, the publication of this law can be
Greece 2.4–4.2 1000–2000 considered as an appreciable start for Turkey in terms
Spain 3.5–7 1000–1500
France – 1200–3000
of consistency efforts to EU policy. In addition, Law No. 5784
Ireland 3.75–9.1 1500–3750 published in July 2008 allowed legal entities to be exempted
Italy 5–10 1500–3000 from obtaining license to generate electricity from renewable
Austria 3.6–14.5 2900–4300 energy up to a capacity of 500 kW. By this law, government
Portugal – 1300–2500
also guarantees to buy the excess electricity. It can be expected
Finland 3–3.5 2200
Sweden 4–5 1500–2500 that this law also will give rise to an increase in installation
UK 5–7 2000–4800 of mini- and micro-hydropower plants in coming years.
Turkeya 1 300–1000 Nevertheless, it is considered that the promotion of feed-in
tariff amount for plants having capacity below 500 kW is
Data source: ESHA, 2004.
also needed to encourage private sector to invest more on
a
The data were calculate by the authors from the finished SHP projects.
installation of mini- and micro-hydropower plants as in the case
of Germany.
Another policy improvement for Turkey can be suggested on
Table 12 the manufacturing of hydroelectricity equipment in domestic
Total investment cost of Birkapili river-type hydropower plant (P ¼ 48.5 MW). market as in the example of China. Government may produce
policies to support private sector to produce domestic equipment
Type of work Cost (h)
so that the cost and the time for supplying equipment can be
Civil Works: regulator, settling basin, channels, tunnels, forebay, roads 7,308,000 reduced.
Electromechanics, penstock, power lines 8,077,000 Although Turkish governments have taken some precautions to
Total 15,385,000 protect the environment and ecological life in project areas, such
as the introduction of Water Usage Rights Act to obtain a license
for the construction and operation of hydropower plants it is still
far from ideal. As the environmental concerns have been growing
all around the world it is stated in this act that an EIS report is not
investment in SHP development in Turkey either by domestic or required for projects below 50 MW and fish passages are not
foreign entrepreneurs. obligatory. This is considered to seriously contradict with EU
As an example to an SHP project in Turkey currently in policy. It can be claimed that environmental concerns are
operation is Birkapili river-type hydropower plant with an significantly important in the frame of EU policy as well as in
installed capacity of 48.5 MW. Table 12 shows the total the world and they are also one of the most important obligations
investment cost in detail. It should be noted that the civil works to become an EU member. Therefore, laws and regulations in
constitute almost 50% of total investment cost. As calculated from Turkey related to environmental issues should be revised and
Table 12 the unit cost of the facility is about 317 (h/kW) which is more effort should be spent on monitoring and auditing of the
very low as compared to other European countries. facilities.
It was concluded that the laws on renewable energy utilization
for electricity generation in Turkey has brought some improve-
6. Conclusions ments to the market. However, they must be revised or redesigned
to fulfill the requirements of EU policy as Turkey is an EU-
This paper evaluates SHP development in Turkey and discusses candidate country. The laws and regulations should be designed
current situation of SHP plants in terms of government policy and more realistic practically rather than being copied or modified
economical aspects by taking EU policy into account. Further- from the regulation literature. The governments and government
more, environmental impacts of SHP plants were assessed and agencies must carefully analyze the real conditions in Turkey
compared to other renewables. It is considered that Turkish within the context of EU policy and produce more precise and
Renewable Energy Law (Law No. 5346) has conflictions with EU practical policies.
policy in terms of hydropower development. The most important
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