TURKEY RANKED 7TH COUNTRY IN EUROPE IN TERMS OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CLEAN ENERGY FIELDS

FDi Magazine, published by the Financial Times and providing up-to-date information to investors by monitoring foreign investments on a global scale, announced the results of the “Renewable Energy Investment Regions in Europe in 2020” survey. Accordingly, leading countries in the field of clean energy were evaluated in two categories: the number of foreign investment projects and clean energy investments compared to the population.
In Europe, in the study that examined the foreign direct investment information in the renewable energy sector in 2016-2019, the countries that received at least 5 foreign investment projects in this period were evaluated.
Turkey, with its 19 foreign direct investment projects in the renewable energy field, ranked 7th in the list “Most Countries Attracting Foreign Investment in Renewable Energy” where there were 20 countries listed.
Europe was a global leader in foreign direct investments in clean energy in 2019. In this period, thanks to government incentives especially for renewable energy producers, the highest foreign investment amounts were reached in the last 8 years.
Britain, on the other hand, was registered as the first country in Europe in foreign investment in clean energy. In the said country, foreign direct investments in energy production and related operations in the country primarily focused on wind and biomass energy. In this development, it was emphasized that England’s strategy aimed at the installation of 30 GW sea power by 2030 had a great impact.
England was followed by Spain, which stands out with its investments in solar energy. In the research, it was underlined that Spain, which succeeded in transforming the advantages of its geography into effective foreign investments, is the largest photovoltaic project in Europe in its group of the Nunez de Balboa Project completed this year.
It was pointed out that France, which ranks third, hosts huge investments in wind energy as a result of the support it has prepared for foreign investments in line with the climate change strategy.
According to the study, in which investments are analyzed compared to the population, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland and Serbia took the first places. In the said evaluation, Turkey was ranked 18th with 0.23 ratio.
İzmir Development Agency Secretary General Mehmet Yavuz said, “Turkey has taken important steps in recent years to improve the renewable energy sector in the investment environment. Sector, in particular the increase in investment in production equipment importance to further strengthen its current position in the renewable energy sector of our country.”
Yavuz explained that the tender mechanisms developed especially in order to support the incentives for foreign investments and to support the production of domestic equipment for the sector had a positive impact on the production of energy and equipment.
Pointing out that İzmir Development Agency is also working to increase the added value of the clean energy sector in the country and strengthen its positive effects on employment and the environment, Yavuz said, “Wind energy comes to the fore in terms of energy and equipment production in İzmir. Logistics advantages, ports, skilled manpower and developed supplier industry make İzmir an attraction center for investors operating in this field, while it helped the equipment manufacturers see the region as a production base.”
Yavuz, highlighting the significant contribution İzmir’ powerful supply chain to the Turkey’s success in this area, he said:
“In addition to major wind energy producers, in addition to companies operating worldwide such as Siemens Gamesa, Enercon, General Electric (LM Wind Power), TPI Composites, CS Wind in the production of equipment and technology, a strong supply chain has been formed consisting of many local companies such as Tibet Makine, Ateş Çelik, Dirinler Döküm, Norm Cıvata, and GIMAS. In order to strengthen our country’s current position in the renewable energy sector, it is important to increase equipment production investments in the sector. We have investment support activities for foreign investors, and efforts to resolve local firms’ problems by central organizations. We produce projects to provide the human resources and infrastructure needed by the industry. Izmir, offshore investment we want to be the pioneer of Turkey. ”