Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (“Ministry”) has published Regulations related to the Acceptance of Electricity Generation and Electricity Storage Facilities (“Regulation”), entering into force on 1 April 2020. The regulation is inclusive of the principles regarding the acceptance processes of electricity generation and electricity storage facilities and the requirements over the course of the operation period of the facilities.
The purpose of the Regulation is that the acceptance processes of the electricity generation and electricity storage facilities is to be carried out in accordance with the relevant legislation and standards, and the facilities in question is to in compliance with the transmission or distribution networks whilst ensuring life, property and field safety and to determine the procedures and principles to the person responsible for the acceptance procedures.
Within the framework of the regulation, the acceptance and protocol processes of electricity generation and storage facilities shall be carried out by the Ministry. This authority can be delegated to the Project Approval Unit (“PAB”) to be assigned by the Ministry.
It has been regulated that no application for acceptance can be made for the unit(s) whose project has not been completed nor approved by the PAB. For the acceptance application, the completion of all field testing and necessary permit processes is set out as a condition and after the fulfillment of the related conditions, the licensee/facility owner shall apply to the PAB with the necessary information and documents. The related information and documents will be examined/reviewed by the PAB within 5 working days. Moreover, it has been regulated that no acceptance shall be made in cases of important deficiencies, disabilities or various substantial work regarding life, property and field safety in the electricity generations and storage facilities.
The acceptance committee is chaired by an engineer representing the relevant PAB. It shall consist of the PAB engineers, system operator engineers, license/facility owners and/or an authorized signatory representative. If an engineer should be assigned upon the request of the PAB, it should be an authorized signatory contractor representative and/or other public institution and institution engineers.
It has been specified that no power shall be applied to the electrical facilities without project approval. In the event of a circumstance risking life, property or field safety determined during or after the power application to the facility, the system power shall be cut off until the circumstance is eliminated by the system operator.
With regards to the regulation, the licensee/facility owner, contractor, manufacturer and project owner are held jointly responsible for the suitability of the facility relating to the approved project and any negative circumstances that may arise from its production, construction, and operation.
With regards to the Regulation, related to the Acceptance of Electricity Generation Facilities published in the Official Gazette number 29524 dated 6 November 2015 has been repealed.
Please see this link for the full text of the Regulation, published in Official Gazette number 31044 on 19 February 2020 (only available in Turkish).
