Compliance Quarterly

Global

Global supply chain challenges, energy shortages and their impact on PF mining projects

Read the full publication, "Global supply chain challenges, energy shortages and their impact on PF mining projects."

Time to standardize for sustainability-linked derivatives  

Read the full publication, "Time to standardize for sustainability-linked derivatives."

Turkey

New Regulation removing capacity limits in Hybrid Wind Power Plants is published

The Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Board's (Board) Decision to amend the Principles and Procedures in the Determination of Power Plant Fields of Generation Facilities Subject to Pre-license or License in Electricity Market (Principles and Procedures) was published in the Official Gazette of Turkey on 5 November 2022. The amendments remove the limits applied to total mechanical installed capacity of the units based on supplementary sources for hybrid power plants that use wind power as their main source of energy. Accordingly, hybrid power plants using wind power as the main source of energy will not be subject to the below limits set forth by article 24(1) of the Principles and Procedures with regards to their units generating electricity from supplementary sources:

• if the total installed capacity of the units using the main source is equal to, or below, 50MW, the total capacity of the units using supplementary sources cannot exceed the total installed capacity of the units using the main source of energy;
• if the total installed capacity of the units using the main source is above 50MW, the total capacity of the units using supplementary sources cannot exceed the sum of 50MW and half the amount of total capacity of the units using the main energy sources exceeding the 50MW threshold; and
• In any case, the total mechanical installed capacity of the units generating electricity from supplementary energy sources cannot exceed 100MW.

Hybrid power plants continue to attract more investment. Removal of the limits will undoubtedly help investors to develop more bankable projects, while increasing the portion of renewable energy resources in the energy mix.

New Mining Regulation repealing the previous Regulation is published

A new Mining Regulation was published on December 11, 2022 in the Official Gazette (Regulation) and repealed the previous mining regulation that has been in effect since 21 September 2019. The Regulation brings forward a number of new provisions, regulating many new areas. The Regulation introduces a new category of rights - an 'apparent reserve development right' - also allowing such rights to be transferred separately or in conjunction with the mining license, and also to be registered with the mining registry by the right holders. The Regulation also introduces some new notions with respect to royalty agreements. For instance, the Regulation now allows the execution of more than one royalty agreement within a licensed area by specifying different coordinates within that area by different applicants. Any transfer of shares of a royalty right holder exceeding 10% of its share capital, is now subject to the approval of the General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs. The Regulation aims to apply additional duties and responsibilities to permanent resident supervisors in the license area, expanding such obligations in certain situations. The Regulation also clarifies that, in case of an overlap between mining and infrastructure investments carried out by governmental authorities or private parties, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources shall have decisive authority to resolve such conflicts. This is aimed at streamlining and rendering the resolution of such disputes more efficiently. Finally, the Regulation updates license fees and payment procedures in relation to such fees.

New Rules on Electricity Storage Activities are published

On 19 November 2022, several amendments (Amendments) were made to the Electricity Market License Regulation (Regulation) to complement existing rules with respect to the development and operation of electricity storage units within the boundaries of generation plants. The Amendments aim to provide further details on earlier amendments to the Electricity Market Law numbered 6446 (the Electricity Market Law) that were implemented in July 2022, allowing electricity storage plant developers to apply for a pre-license to develop solar or wind power projects within their project site without having to participate in grid connection competitions organized by Türkiye Elektrik Üretim A.Ş.. The power plants, developed in accordance with the amended provisions of the Electricity Market Law, are also allowed to benefit from the feed-in tariff mechanism (YEKDEM).

The amendments made to the Electricity Market Law include the following:

1. conditions for issuing, cancelling and amending pre-licenses and licenses;
2. forfeiture of the security deposits/letters of guarantee in case of failure to fulfill obligations;
3. rules for the provision of electricity produced in generating plants through storage plants; and
4. the right to expropriation granted for storage units within the generating plants.

The Regulation provides that a single pre-license/license is sufficient for generating plants which are for both electricity generation and storage, and no separate license is required for storage. It also sets installed capacity limits, both for storage and generation units, and different ones for solar and wind power plants, as a specific requirement for applying for a pre-license under the new regime. Rules for application to benefit from the new regime and the process of evaluation is also explained under the Amendments. The Amendments are expected to have a positive impact on both renewable power generation and electricity storage activities.