Turkey: Review of Renewable Energy Permitting and Licensing Regime Options for Turkey

Permitting, licensing and other authorisation procedures are an integral part of investing in renewable energy. When building an operating a renewable energy (‘RE’) plant, project developers must obtain different licenses, permits, authorisations, approvals, rights and clearances from national, regional, and local authorities.
Optimal RE licensing and permitting regimes are tailored to country specifics. This is a relatively new area where international experience is developing and there are significant differences between countries regarding the number, length and sequence of procedures. Licensing and permits procedures are costly and time consuming which can discourage investors and delay the deployment of new renewable energy activities. It is important to take stock of the current international experience within this area that has successfully streamlined these processes and evaluate potential for replication in Turkey in order to enhance the administrative procedures to enable a large penetration of renewable energy in Turkey.
The regulatory regime for RE in Turkey is currently based on a feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme. The Government has expressed an interest to review this scheme and potentially move to a different support scheme after the end of existing FiT scheme in 2020. Specific characteristics of licensing and permitting procedures often depend on the type of energy support regime. Therefore, it is important at this juncture to analyse and compare different RE permitting and regimes and assess their replicability within Turkey’s current and developing regulatory framework.
Assignment Description:
The Bank wishes to engage a consulting company (the ‘Consultant’) to provide analytical support to the Government of Turkey in developing recommendations for renewable energy permitting and licensing procedures that are in line with international best practice and compatible with the current and future RE regulatory framework in Turkey (the ‘Assignment’).
As a result of this Assignments, it is expected that the Government of Turkey will have received (i) an assessment of Turkey’s RE licensing and permitting procedures against global best practices and benchmarks; (ii) a set of recommendations that cover regulatory changes, elimination of any unnecessary steps, the development of monitoring/supervisory entities and (iii) an action plan for the implementation of the new permitting and licensing regime.

The contracting entity shall be the Bank.

This TC is expected to be developed in two phases: Phase 1 will review all existing permitting, licensing and other authorisation/permitting procedures for both licensed and unlicensed renewable energy in Turkey and provide recommendations on potential options for streamlining the procedures and processes. Phase 2 will support the Government in the implementation of the recommendation of Phase 1. Phase 2 of the assignment will commence once the Government has selected a strategy for the streamlining of the RE licensing. The launch of phase 2 will be subject to confirmation by the Government following Phase 1 completion. The Project may be extended in duration or scope.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:
Phase 1: Review
a) Produce a guide including a table which clearly identifies the processes that would need to be revised and recommend options for the revisions of each of the steps in the current RE authorisation and permitting framework if Turkey were to switch to an alternative RE support scheme including: (i) competitive auction mechanism, (ii) green certificates regime, (iii) direct competitive sale in the market; (iv) self-consumption; (v) fiscal incentives (i.e. tax breaks etc.);
b) Provide recommendations for regulatory changes, elimination of any unnecessary steps, the development of monitoring/supervisory entities and the development of the necessary mechanisms to accelerate deployment of RE projects in Turkey, in line with global best practices, including environmental & social safeguards, transparent procurement and value for money for different stakeholders (investors, public institutions, local communities);
c) Develop a road map and identify key milestones necessary for the implementation of the recommendation;
d) Provide a bibliography of all available reports and papers on RE permitting and licensing procedures in the world.
Phase 2: Support to Government
a) Develop a roadmap including milestones and timeline for the implementation of the recommendation of Phase 1 and tailor them to be in line with the Government’s selected streamlined licensing and permitting procedures;
b) Provide examples of relevant documents, legislation, and models to implement the recommendations;
c) Provide hands on support to the relevant key stakeholders in the adoption the recommendations.
The final scope for Phase 2 of the assignment will be further refined and extended following completion of Phase 1 and the selection by the Government of their preferred support regime for RE. This will be prepared in consultation with the Consultant.

Status of Selection Process:
Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration:
The Assignment is expected to start in July 2017 and has an estimated overall duration of 10 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment:
EUR 133,400 (exclusive of VAT). Subject to availability of funding.
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source:
It is expected that the assignment will be implemented with funding from the European Union
Eligibility:
There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile:

Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with previous project experience in:
power sector economic, power sector regulation with a focus on renewable energy support schemes and familiar with RE permitting and licensing procedures;
experience of advising/supporting a RE developer on the permitting and licensing regime applications in particularly in Turkey;
procurement expertise with focus on licensing and public tendering;
experience and knowledge of the Turkish power market.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
Key Expert 1: Team Leader preferably with
a. A minimum 10 years of experience in the power sector;
b. Strong background on different types of renewable energy support schemes with familiarity with RE permitting and licensing procedures;
c. Past experience or background in the Turkish electricity market would be an advantage; and
d. Fluency in English is essential.
Key Expert 2: A pool of Energy Market/Technical Experts with
a. A minimum of 5 years of experience in power sector and renewable energy
b. experience of advising/support RE developers on permitting and licensing regime applications both in Turkey and other countries;
c. knowledge of good international policies and practices on environmental and social safeguards and permitting mechanisms
d. Fluency in English is essential. Command of Turkish for at least one expert is desirable.
Key Expert 3: Procurement Expert preferably with
a. A minimum 5 years’ experience in energy procurement;
b. Previous experience on licensing and public tendering;
c. Fluency in English is essential. Command of Turkish would be desirable.

Key Expert 4: Renewable Energy Engineer preferably with
a. A minimum of 5 years of experience in renewable energy project development and integration;
b. Good knowledge on the specific process requirements for the development of RE power plants and environmental & social background;
c. knowledge of technology trends for different renewable energy sources;
d. good understanding of RE grid connection and management issues and intermittence solutions;
e. Fluency in English is essential. Command of Turkish would be desirable.
Key Expert 5: Local legal expert with experience and significant knowledge in
a. Turkish energy regulation and energy laws;
b. Knowledge of international renewable energy market regulations, including relevant EU Directives and their transposition;
c. Previous work in Turkish renewable energy market would constitute an advantage; and
d. Fluency in Turkish and English is essential.
Submission Requirements:
In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the expression of interest submitted should include the following:
a. Company/group of firms’ profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2 pages);

b. Details of previous project experience or similar assignments preferably undertaken in the previous five years (max 5 pages in total); each project reference should include information on: title of the assignment; country; duration (mm/yy to mm/yy); value of the consultant’s contract; short description of the main objectives and deliverables.

c. Short description of the proposed work plan and methodology for undertaking the assignment, in particular in relation to the understanding of the assignment and structuring of deliverables.

d. Summary of CVs of key experts who would carry out the Assignment. An initial table/chart should provide a clear overview of the structure of the team and the roles assigned to each key expert, matching the team requirements listed above. The summary (max 3 pages; full CVs to be provided as an annex) shall then provide the following information for each expert: role in the team; years of experience in the proposed role; main area of expertise; up to 3 key reference projects (name, date, role of the consultant in the project).

e. Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:

http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.

Source: EuropeanBank