1. Purpose and Scope

Having been published on the on the Official Gazette No. 31304 dated 14.11.2020 the Regulation Regarding Renewable Energy Source Guarantee Certificate (the “Regulation”) regulates the establishment of renewable energy source guarantee certificate system (“YEK-G System”) which provides the opportunity to follow, prove and disclose the source of electricity supplied to the consumers by way of certifying use of renewable energy with renewable energy source guarantee certificates (“YEK-G Certificate”) and terms and conditions for impartial and transparent operation of such system with the purposes of increasing the use of renewable energy use and protection of the environment. YEK-G system brought with the Regulation shall be effective as of 01.06.2021.

Enerji Piyasaları İşletme Anonim Şirketi (“EPİAŞ” or the “Market Operator”) is determined as the market operator within the scope of the Regulation. The Regulation involves terms in relation to participation of generation and supply license holders in YEK-G System, principles for establishment and operation of organised renewable energy source guarantee market and duties and powers of EPİAŞ and rights and obligations of the license holder legal persons. It should be noted that the generators subject to the Regulation Regarding Unlicensed Power Generation in the Electricity Market are not within the scope of the Regulation. YEK-G System brought with the Regulation establishes a structure that is in line with the Guarantees of Origin system that is being used in the European Union renewable energy market and that is a renewable energy tracking system as per Article 15 of the European Union Directive No. 2009/28/EC

2. YEK-G Certification and YEK-G System

The YEK-G Certificate, which is also known in public as the “Green Certificate” will be issued by the Market Operator with the purposes of proving and disclosing to the consumers that a certain proportion of the supplied electricity is generated from renewable energy sources and providing a market for trade of YEK-G Certificates. In this vein, EPİAŞ is the authorised entity for issuance of YEK-G Certificates and is responsible for establishment, operation and management of the registration database for the YEK-G System.

YEK-G Certificate shall be issued by considering the generation amount to be certified in the licensed power plants with renewable energy sources upon request of the relevant generation license holders. One YEK-G Certificate shall be issued for each 1 MWh certifiable generation amount and such YEK-G Certificate shall be valid for 12 months period as of the end date of the generation term of electricity energy from renewable energy sources.

YEK-G System participants shall comprise of the legal persons holding generation or supply licenses provided that they enter into participation agreement with the Market Operator and fulfilled registration conditions within the scope of the Regulation that are detailed in Section 3. Participants that prefer engaging in organised YEK-G market shall also execute organised YEK-G market participation agreement with the Market Operator. Terms and conditions for participating in the organised YEK-G Market are detailed in Section 5.

The Regulation also provides that power plants that are registered to other certified markets aiming to provide information regarding the type of the energy other than YEK-G System cannot register for YEK-G System in the same calendar year. Generation license holders with multiple sources can only participate in YEK-G System and organised YEK-G Market provided that all energy sources in the plant are renewable energy sources.

3. Participation in YEK-G System

License holder legal persons shall register at Market Operator and open account in Market Operator database and fulfil the following conditions for participating in YEK-G System as per Article 9 of the Regulation:

• Legal person registration as per relevant articles of the Electricity Market Balancing and Settlement Regulation shall be completed,
• Acceptance of at least one power plant or one unit in the portfolio of generation license holder legal persons and registration in relation to supply and withdraw units subject to settlement shall be completed as of application,
• YEK-G System participation agreement shall be executed,
• YEK-G System participation undertaking shall be signed for registration as a power plant generating energy from renewable energy sources,
• Other obligations as per YEK-G System and Terms and Conditions Regarding Organised Yek-G Market Operation shall be fulfilled.

YEK-G System participants requesting issuance of YEK-G Certificate for electricity generation in the licensed power plants with renewable energy sources shall have their powerplants registered in the YEK-G System in each calendar year. Having the relevant plant registered in the name of the relevant YEK-G System participant in Market Management System and signing of the YEK-G System participation undertaking are required for completion of registration procedures. It should also be noted that power plants that are determined as passive in terms of their YEK-G system registration cannot register in the YEK-G System in the same year again.

4. YEK-G Certificate Trading in the Market

YEK-G Certificate trade shall only be made between YEK-G System participants in the following ways as per Article 11 of the Regulation:

• In the Organised YEK-G Market that is a platform organised and operated by the Market Operator where YEK-G Certificates are traded between market participants without any energy supply,
• In the YEK-G bilateral agreement market where YEK-G Certificates are traded, together with or without electricity, between market participants subject to the commercial agreements that are not subject to approval of Energy Market Regulatory Authority.

It is crucial to note that YEK-G System participants are required to inform the Market Operator in relation to trade of YEK-G Certificates in the YEK-G bilateral agreement market.

This system established for YEK-G Certificate trading also provides a new investment opportunity for investors that are seeking electricity generation from renewable energy sources.

5. Organised YEK-G Market

The Regulation also regulates procedures and principles in relation to the Organised YEK-G Market that is organised and operated by the Market Operator where YEK-G Certificates are traded between market participants.

According to the Article 12 of the Regulation the following procedures and principles shall apply in the Organised YEK-G Market.

• Pairings shall be made subject to the constant trade method in which offers can be paired immediately upon the offers are recorded in the offer ledger and commercial transaction can be made accordingly,
• Contracts that are opened subject to the constant trade method shall be traded through the session period.
• Sessions, session periods, contracts to be traded, opening and closing times of the contract, offer periods for the contracts and all other procedures in relation to the market shall be regulated by Terms and Conditions.
• Market Operator shall be a party to the relevant market participant in each transaction completed in Organised YEK-G Market.

Market participants can make offers subject to the offer types determined as per Terms and Conditions for the contracts that are opened by the Market Operator and all types of offers to be submitted in the Organised YEK-G Market and all other necessary information shall be determined as per Terms and Conditions by the Market Operator and shall be submitted to the market participants through Market Management System.

6. Review and Comments

YEK-G System introduced by the Regulation is established in line with the European Union Guarantees of Origin system and purposes of extension of use of renewable energy sources and protection of environment in electricity generation and consumption.

It will be possible with the YEK-G System to transparently prove that the electricity supplied to the consumers are generated from renewable energy sources with the YEK-G Certificate which is commonly known as the “Green Certificate”. Generation and supply license holders can make a request to the EPİAŞ for issuance of YEK-G Certificates and ensure use of renewable energy sources to their consumers seeking electricity generated from renewable energy sources.

The Regulation also provides an Organised YEK-G Market to be established and operated by EPİAŞ where YEK-G Certificates will be traded generation and supply license holders and this new market may constitute a new source of income for investors that are seeking generation of electricity from renewable energy sources.

In the light of these latest developments, the new YEK-G System that is established in line with the European Union standards is likely to increase investments in renewable energy sources in the electricity market and extend use of YEK-G Certificates as of the effective date of the Regulation, June 2021.

@Kesikli Law Firm