Türkiye's Energy and Natural Resources Ministry on Wednesday said it had received 77 applications from 38 companies for this year's solar power plant tenders under the Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) auction mechanism.
The competitions are part of Türkiye's push to expand clean energy capacity and accelerate progress toward national renewable targets.
The ministry had initially announced tenders for 10 solar plants totaling 850 megawatts (MW) for 2025, but two were canceled last week.
Following the revision, 38 companies will now compete for eight projects with a combined 650 MW of capacity across Bolu, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Van and Manisa provinces, the statement said on Wednesday.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Türkiye has now exceeded 38,000 MW of combined solar and wind capacity and aims to raise this figure to 120,000 MW by 2035.
"To move steadily toward our target, we launched the new YEKA model earlier this year. We finalized the first solar and wind tenders early in the year," said Bayraktar.
The first round of tenders in January and February awarded 1,200 MW for wind and 800 MW for solar projects.
"Before the year ends, we will complete the YEKA 2025 tenders as well," Bayraktar said, noting that they anticipate highly competitive auctions, including participation from international investors.
The ceiling price for the eight tenders has been set at 5.50 euro cents (6.4 cents) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), with a floor price of 3.25 euro cents. Should the bidding reach the floor price, the competition will shift to increasing the contribution margin, starting at 10,000 euros per megawatt.
Under the current terms, electricity generated from these plants may be sold on the free market for 60 months following the contract signing. Once this period concludes, a 20-year power purchase guarantee will go into effect.
A highlight of this year's tenders is the Demirköprü Floating Solar Power Plant in the western province of Manisa, which will be Türkiye's first floating solar project.
Following a legislative amendment last year that permitted renewable energy generation on seas, dams and lakes, this specific 35 MW project has attracted significant attention, receiving 11 applications.
The ministry is also preparing for wind energy tenders. Applications for six new wind power plants are scheduled to be collected on Dec. 2, the statement said.
Türkiye has limited oil and natural gas resources and suffers from a high current account deficit due to vast energy imports. It has been incentivizing private sector investments in renewable power plants since 2005 to reduce its high import bill and insulate itself from geopolitical risks.
While Türkiye's electricity consumption has tripled in the last two decades, it is expected to increase even faster in the coming years due to the long-term energy transformation.
The YEKA scheme was introduced in 2016 to facilitate land allocation for investors, ease the deployment of large projects and encourage the domestic production of renewable energy technologies.
The government later unveiled updates to the model to draw greater investor interest. Key enhancements included simplifying post-tender permitting procedures and introducing financial incentives like exemptions from transmission fees.
