New conditions have been imposed on electricity companies.

The Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) has established the conditions related to the license application, operation, and acceptance of energy storage power plants through amendments to the electricity market regulations.

A 5-YEAR OBLIGATION HAS BEEN INTRODUCED

The EPDK decision regarding this matter was published in the Official Gazette. Accordingly, it has been mandated that the plants must be kept operational and must be 85% available for the first 5 years based on the acceptance date, and 80% in subsequent years. If these conditions are not met, the energy supplied from the storage facility to the system will not be considered in the settlement calculations. The mentioned energy will be deemed to have been produced by the obligated supply company participating in the Renewable Energy Resources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM) and will be considered as a non-paid contribution to YEKDEM.

In the Balancing Power Market, it has been decided that the settlement period will be applied as 15 minutes. The necessary infrastructure preparations for this application must be completed by January 1, 2027, and until that date, the old regulation will continue. Unlicensed producers connected to the transmission system will also be obliged to inform the system operator of their finalized daily programs and available capacities. In cases where free consumers are requested by multiple suppliers, the consumer will be able to select their current supplier through the free consumer portal and notify the market operator.

CAPITAL AND COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED FOR STORAGE LICENSE APPLICATIONS

Additionally, with the Regulation Amending the Electricity Market License Regulation, certain capital and collateral requirements have been introduced for license applications for electricity storage facilities. Existing license holders will need to meet these requirements for new storage facilities. If the storage facility is not established on time, the provided collateral will be forfeited. The data of the storage facilities will be monitored from the SCADA system and reported to the market operator. Existing license holders must meet the necessary conditions, collateral, and capital obligations for a standalone electricity storage facility within 3 months. Otherwise, the storage licenses of the facility or facilities will be revoked.

A 10% TOLERANCE CONDITION HAS BEEN INTRODUCED

According to the "Amendment to the Regulation on Storage Activities in the Electricity Market," the "availability" status of the storage units in electricity storage power plants will indicate that these units are operational.

A 10% tolerance will be applied in the acceptance of storage units or facilities. Additionally, with the Regulation Amending the Electricity Grid Regulation, if it is determined by the operator that the capacity data of electricity storage power plants can be accurately and continuously transferred to the SCADA system of the relevant grid operator, a Capacity Data Tracking Document will be issued. This document will be mandatory to be presented during the acceptance phase of the facility. Applications for the mentioned document will be concluded within 7 business days.