Conditions in Turkey both geographically and politically mark it as one of Europes optimum countries for solar power generation with the annual average insolation duration reaching 7.2 hours per day.

LONDON--Hive Energy announces the opening of a new regional headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. The expansion marks the companys next step in its growth strategy to build an international presence in the global solar PV market with sights set on building a portfolio of 50MW of solar PV projects in the country.

Tolga Metin, a graduate of the Middle East Technical University with BSc, MBA and MSc degrees takes the helm as General Manager and brings to the role extensive experience having developed a portfolio of 18 MWs of PV solar power plants in the region including one of the countrys first unlicensed PV Solar projects. The new offices are located in central Ankara close to the Energy Ministry of Turkey, Electricity Distribution Company of Turkey (TEDAS) and the Energy Market Regulatory Authority Headquarters (TEDAS).

Conditions in Turkey both geographically and politically mark it as one of Europes optimum countries for solar power generation with the annual average insolation duration reaching 7.2 hours per day. Covering just one half of 1% of the land area of Turkey with solar panels would be sufficient to generate all of the electricity consumed. Despite these facts, the country has a relatively undeveloped solar PV market. Only 0.6% of power comes from renewable sources with just 170 MW of solar commissioned to date compared to 2.6GW capacity installed in Greece, 8GW in the UK and 27GW in Germany.

Giles Redpath, CEO Hive Energy:

"Turkey represents the next exciting opportunity for solar in Europe. To date there has been very limited solar PV development and investment in the country. Turkey has a high performing economy and although current electricity consumption per capita is 40% lower than the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) average this demand is forecast to develop significantly in the coming years and Hive Energy are poised to support this growth."

The Government of Turkey (GoT) is highly supportive of renewable energy projects and is eager to counter the currently high account deficit from imported energy. The GoT recently announced its target to deliver at least 3GW of solar PV generated energy by 2023 to meet growing demand and to compliment its National Renewable Energy Action Plan. The government has incentivised the market by increasing the capacity of unlicensed solar generation projects from 500kWs to 1MW with a fixed 10 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of $0.133/kWh. The falling cost of solar panel prices mean that the PPA is now more economically viable to solar developers.

Concurrent to the governments commitment to renewable policy, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is also considering €500 million of new funding to support renewable energy and resource efficiency projects in the country. The funding would be used to enhance the competitiveness of Turkish industry while attracting investment to grow municipal infrastructure and support privatisation.