The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided $180 million financing to Turkey’s Garanti Bank and Yapı ve Kredi Bank to boost renewable energy in the country, EBRD announced on Wednesday.
The funds will finance mid-sized renewable energy projects that will be implemented by private sector companies, the statement from the Bank revealed. The funding for these projects will range between €10 and €40 million and will include solar, hydropower, wind, geothermal, waste-to-energy and energy efficiency projects, according to the Bank.
'The EBRD’s funds are made available through the Turkey Mid-size Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (MidSEFF), a €1 billion programme through which the EBRD and the European Investment Bank are supporting sustainable energy finance in Turkey,' the statement read.
The programme is supported by a €5 million grant from the European Union’s Instrument for Pre-Accession in close collaboration with the Turkish Treasury, EBRD underlined in the statement.
'The MidSEFF programme has financed 42 projects to date through seven Turkish banks and has created over 700 MW in additional renewable capacity,' according to the statement.
Sylvia Gansser-Potts, EBRD Director for Financial Institutions in Turkey and southern and eastern Mediterranean, said that EBRD has built up a good cooperation with the two Turkish banks in recent years.
'Both banks have a strong track record of on-lending to private companies which invest in mid-sized renewable energy projects. Demand for renewable energy finance in Turkey remains high and both lenders have a strong pipeline for many successful investments in the sector,” she emphasized.
EBRD has been operating in Turkey for six years giving priority to the renewable energy sector of Turkey, which aims at creating 30 percent of its installed capacity from renewable sources by 2023.
The Bank has invested €2.2 billion in almost 60 such projects, including two of the country’s largest wind farms. EBRD most recently supported Turkey’s biggest geothermal power plant, Efeler.
By Nuran Erkul
Anadolu Agency
nuran.erkul@aa.com.tr