Those who trusted the government stayed on the road… The government gave up on the solar energy system, which he had guaranteed to buy… Thousands of citizens borrowed millions of Turkish Liras (TL)… The regulation of granting the electricity produced in unlicensed solar power plants to the state failed thousands of investors. The issue first came to the fore after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that surplus electricity would be purchased in 2019. In the Presidential Decree, it was guaranteed that the surplus electricity produced in these facilities would be purchased for 10 years. Thereupon, thousands of Solar Energy Power Plant investments were made throughout Turkey.
“WE WILL NOT BUY; YOU WILL GRANT”
However, after three years, investors were shocked by a decision taken by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) in early August. In the board decision of EMRA published in the Official Gazette on August 4, it was noted that the surplus electricity produced can no longer be sold. In addition, It was also decided that businesses only can sell the amount of electricity they consume and that the increased electricity supplied to the system will be donated to the Electricity Market Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM) free of charge.
“WE TRUSTED THE GOVERNMENT, WE OWED MILLIONS OF TL”
Citizens and businesses that rely on the government's 'purchase' guarantee and invest with hundreds of thousands of dollars are reacting to the decision. Investors, who stated that they invested with costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars by relying on the government's promise of '10 years', said, "If we consider the increase in the dollar, we have fallen under a debt of millions of TL. However, the government could not keep its promise even for three years. They left us face to face with mountains of debt. Instead of eliminating this grievance, they also want 80 percent of the energy we produce to be donated.”