Changes have been made to the electricity licensing regime in Turkey with regard to entities established by a demerger, as well as preferential rights if multiple applications exist for activities in the same location. Changes have also been made to the pre-license amendment procedure. The Regulation Regarding the Amendments in the Electricity Market License Regulation ("Amendment Regulation") was published in Official Gazette number 29571 on 23 December 2015, entering into effect on the same date.

The Amendment Regulation maintains the non-transferrable license principle in the Electricity Market License Regulation ("Regulation"), but changes the cases which are not deemed to be license transfers.

In general, Energy Market Regulatory Board ("Board") approval is required to transfer rights and obligations from a legal entity which holds a production license to another legal entity which is established within the same partnership structure. Under the Amendment Regulation, new legal entities which are established by means of a demerger are excluded from this requirement.

The Amendment Regulation amends the regime for changing pre-licenses. To change the production facility registered under a pre-license, the new facility must be found suitable as a result of technical evaluations by the General Directorate of Renewable Energy. For wind power based generation plants, applications should be made for an Environmental Impact Assessment and Technical Interaction Permission for the new site.

The Amendment Regulation states that a new unlicensed generation applications will not be accepted in relation to project fields which are subject to an existing pre-license or license application. However, such unlicensed generation applications will be accepted if:

  • The application is made after the generation license was issued;
  • The application is made by the project field's owner;
  • The Renewable Energy Administration approves the technical evaluation of the unlicensed project; and
  • The unlicensed project does not adversely affect existing licensed generation facilities in the same field.

Please see this link for full text of the Amendment Regulation (only available in Turkish).

Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.

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