Energy Efficiency IV

In our series of articles on energy efficiency and energy performance contracts;
– Law No. 5627 on Energy Efficiency, which entered into force in 2007, and other legislation were examined,
– In the “National Energy Efficiency Action Plan” planned to be implemented between 2017-2023
we have assessed the compliance of the forecasts with Directive 2021/27/EU adopted by the European Parliament.

In the past period, especially with the pandemic increasing social consumption more than anticipated and the acceleration of moves to return to renewable energy, there have been various developments in the field of energy efficiency, and the targets set globally have started to be adopted in Turkey. You can review the continuation article of our energy efficiency series, which includes current developments, below, and you can access the previous parts of our series from the link https://www.ege-law.com/yayinlarimiz/#top.

1. INTRODUCTION

As stated in the Energy Efficiency Training Book published by the Energy Efficiency and Environment Department of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources in July 2023: “One of the main factors leading to climate change is greenhouse gases and 60% of these gases are released into the atmosphere during energy production processes. Therefore, clean energy is of great importance in the fight against climate change. Accessible and reliable energy is also needed to meet basic human needs without interruption and for equitable development.”

The need for energy, which is one of the most important inputs of social and economic development, and the limited resources that constitute the majority of energy production in the face of ever-increasing demand have caused countries to review their energy policies and to focus on energy efficiency practices. In this direction, various steps have been taken both in the European Union (“EU”) and in Turkey to establish the concept of energy efficiency, whose main objective is to reduce the unit energy generated by production or service activities, and this issue has become a fundamental policy parameter.

2. EU’S ENERGY EFFICIENCY REGULATIONS

The European Union’s energy consumption is equivalent to 11% of global energy consumption and the European Economic Area (“EEA”) imports almost half of it (1) . The Council of the European Union’s Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU) (“Directive”), which we quoted in the previous article of our series, has been updated twice in the last period and the latest version was published in the Official Journal of the European Union in September 2023. The biggest driver for the need to update the Directive is the “Fit for 55” target, which the EU is striving to achieve with utmost determination. The last amendment was made in order to concretize the objectives to reduce the amount of energy imported from Russia as a result of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

The Directive sets a target of 11.7% reduction in final energy consumption by 2030 compared to the reference year 2020, while introducing a number of measures to help accelerate energy efficiency practices. The most important change is that the principle of “energy efficiency first” has been given a legal basis. EU countries are legally obliged to prioritize “energy efficiency” in policy making, planning and major investments. (2)

3. TURKEY’S PAST POLICIES TO ACHIEVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND 2053 TARGET

Following the adoption of the Energy Efficiency Law in 2007, which we covered in the first part of our series, various regulations aimed at ensuring the efficient use of energy resources and energy efficiency in buildings and transportation were enacted, and the first Energy Efficiency Strategy Paper was published for the period between 2012 and 2023.

20 of the Electricity Market Law No. 6446 (“Law”). Following the first action plan in 20148 , which was prepared to be renewed every five years in accordance with the Article, the second National Action Plan for Turkey (“Action Plan”) was published in 2023 and was shaped around the Net Zero Emission projections that Turkey plans to achieve in 2053. Although this Action Plan essentially matches the scope of the Energy Efficiency Strategy Document, which includes projections from 2012 to 2023, observations and statistical results have also been analyzed and targets have been updated. A new Strategy Paper for the period 2024-2030 is also expected to be published before the end of this year.

In this Action Plan, it was determined that Turkey’s energy intensity decreased by 25% between 2000 and 2020, which is 3 to 10 percentage points lower than the European data. In addition, renewable energy consumption is projected to reach 23.7% by 2035, while solid fuels will decline by 6 percentage points to around 21.4%. The share of electricity in final energy consumption is expected to reach almost 25% in 2035. The installed electricity capacity of 95.9GW in 2020 is expected to increase to 189.7GW in 2035.

It is also stated in the Action Plan that the biggest factor in achieving the above-mentioned objectives is to ensure flexibility between systems. As is well known, Turkey has a very open renewable energy potential. Nevertheless, uninterrupted production from renewable resources is not possible. Therefore, increasing the share of generation from renewable sources in energy consumption will only be possible by establishing inter-system flexibility. In this direction, the need to expand battery storage systems, increase interconnection capacity between countries and incorporate new renewable energy-based technologies such as electric vehicles into the system has been clearly stated.

4. CONCLUSION

It is undeniable that achieving energy efficiency is of critical importance for both the European Union and Turkey. Energy efficiency policies have also started to be adopted in line with climate change, energy security and sustainable development goals. While the EU is focused on reducing energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency through its recently updated Energy Efficiency Directive, Turkey continues to make various regulations and develop national strategies to achieve its internationally declared targets. In the future, the need to focus on renewable energy sources and energy storage systems continues to be emphasized and measures are being taken and investments are being encouraged to make the 2053 target possible.

1 Deloitte, Energy efficiency in Europe Report (https://www2.deloitte.com/tr/en/pages/energy-and-
resources/articles/energy-efficiency-in-europe.html)
2 https://ab.gov.tr/enerji2_53569.html#:~:%B6re%
C%20AB,sekt%C3%B6rlerde%20enerji%20tasarrufunu%20art%C4%B1rmay%C4%B1%20