Turkey's Aktif Bank is preparing a new and unprecedented financial instrument for investors. The bank will offer share sales from Turkey's solar power plants in the form of funds or sukuk (interest-free Islamic bonds) to finance the construction of solar power plants.

Aktif Bank General Manager Serdar Sümer noted that they will be both undertakers and investors in solar power and that they will be preparing a new profitable model for investors as of next year, adding that individual investors as well as corporate investors can evaluate their budgets here. "With this model, people will be able to use home, land or money as an investment tool, and they can invest in solar power plants by purchasing shares or stakes," he said.

Serdar Sümer told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they have declared 2017 to be the year of solar power at the bank, stressing that in 2018, they will commission new investment tools from which the individual investor can benefit.

Recalling that the production performance of their solar power projects is insured by an international insurer, and is also state-guaranteed to purchase all production at a supported price, Sümer said the investment portfolio has been formed at this stage, adding that Aktif Bank continues to invest in projects over 100 megawatts.

"As soon as the facilities begin production, we will start offering them to investors under the fund or sukuk model. As of 2018, the investor will get high returns in dollar terms with this investment instrument, which is unmatched in the market," he added.

The investment portfolios of approximately 100 MW SPP of Aktif Halk Enerji Yatirimlari A.S. will be offered to investors in dollars in the capital markets as a high-yielding and reliable investment opportunity. In addition to capital markets, the portfolios may also be sold entirely to investors with their solar power plant portfolios already generating electricity.

Sümer stated that they have set engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and project investments in solar plants to be one of the strategic investment areas for the company for the year 2017, and that they will invest in the 100 million megawatts project worth $100 million by the end of the year.

Saying that they will provide project financing to their customers with the EPC model, which includes a 150-megawatt financial contract, Sümer explained that they will realize the 250-megawatt capacity solar power plant (SPP) project worth $250 million.

Sümer stressed that the energy sector is one of their strategic investment areas, and that they proceed on a joint company model by constructing a new model and produce model works on the construction and project financing of solar power plants, in particular in the field of renewable energy. He also recalled that in this context, they have realized a fifty-fifty partnership with Halk Enerji, one of the biggest companies in the field of solar power plants, to invest in licensed and unlicensed SPP projects.

"We have established Aktif Halk Enerji Yatırımları AŞ for SPP project investments, and Halk Yenilenebilir Enerji AŞ to provide EPCF (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Finance) services. As Aktif Bank, we will invest a total of $100 million within the scope of these partnerships by the end of 2017," he continued. "Within the framework of this financing model, we will sign a new project financing agreement with one of the sector's major companies for solar power plants over 70 megawatts next week."

By the end of 2016, the number of solar power plants in Turkey was recorded to stand at 1,043, and the installed power of those plants is 832.5 megawatts. Moreover, Turkey will also construct its largest 1,000 megawatts solar power plant with a build-operate-transfer model in association with the consortium of Turkish company Kalyon Construction and the South Korean Hanwha Group.