Ankara, August 30, 2010 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the third loan for Turkey under the Energy Community of South East Europe Program in the amount of EUR 169.2 million (US$ 220 million equivalent). The project financed by the loan will be implemented by the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEIAS).
The countries of South East Europe (SEE) including Turkey and the European Union are cooperating to develop a regional energy market - the European Community of South East Europe (ESCEE), and integrate it into the internal energy market of the European Union1 through the implementation of priority investments supporting electricity market and power system operations in electricity generation, transmission and distribution and technical assistance for institutional/systems development and project preparation and implementation.
The project, financed by this third adaptable programmatic loan (APL) for Turkey in the sixth phase of the ECSEE program (ECSEE APL 6), aims to increase the reliability and capacity of the power transmission system in Turkey and improve its ability to integrate renewable energy into the system. The project will thus help TEIAS and Turkey’s electricity systems to supply low cost, clean and high quality electricity reliably to consumers across the country.
The project includes two sub-components:
- Component 1: Transmission System Strengthening and Expansion: This component will help finance some investments by TEIAS in the transmission system. It comprises sub-project investments to help expand the capacity and increase the reliability of the power transmission system and enhance the ability of the transmission system to integrate renewable energy, including investments in substations, cables and related systems.
- Component 2: Institutional Strengthening: This component encompasses technical assistance, training and goods to strengthen the institutional and operation capacity of TEIAS, including in the areas of financial and operation management, accounting, auditing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), wholesale markets (balancing and day-ahead markets).
“This third World Bank loan to Turkey under the Energy Community of South East Europe Program recognizes the major steps that Turkey has taken toward the liberalization of its electricity market and its integration with the regional market of South Eastern Europe,” said Ulrich Zachau, Country Director for Turkey. “As the largest player in the South Eastern European market, Turkey continues to be among the leaders in electricity market development in the region. The project will enable the population in Turkey to benefit from a more reliable electricity supply, and will thus help spur economic growth and employment opportunities. I also particularly welcome the growing focus of Turkey’s energy program on energy efficiency and clean energy, to which the project financed by this loan contributes.”
ECSEE is a regional program and the World Bank’s investment support is being provided on a regional basis, using the adaptable program lending (APL) instrument to support ECSEE’s Regional Members (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey and Kosovo).
1 The governments of SEE countries and the European Commission (EC) signed the “the Athens Memorandum” – the Memorandum of Understanding on the Regional Energy Market in South East Europe and its Integration into the European Union Internal Energy Market - on December 8, 2003 in Athens, Greece, whereby they formally expressed their commitment to what is currently called the Energy Community of South East Europe (ECSEE).
