The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing $55 million in new funds to Turkish lender Isbank to finance private companies investing in renewable energy and resource efficiency projects in Turkey.
This is “part of the EBRD’s strategy to help Turkey meet a growing demand for electricity and diversify away from expensive imported fuel, while addressing the challenges of climate change” EBRD said.
The financing – supported by a Eur1.9 million grant from the European Union – “will benefit renewable energy and resource efficiency projects in Turkey including solar, hydropower, wind, geothermal, waste-to-energy and energy efficiency as well as water saving and waste minimisation projects” EBRD explained.
The investment comes under the EBRD’s recently expanded mid-size sustainable energy financing facility (MidSEFF), now totalling Eur1.5 billion. So far 50 projects have been financed through seven Turkish banks under the facility, helping to build over 900 MW of additional renewable energy capacity.
“The response to the previous round of financing we offered to Ișbank under our MidSEFF programme was impressive” commented Noel Edison, Director of Financial Institutions at the EBRD. “The lender has financed nine projects helping to create over 200 MW in additional renewable capacity and its pipeline for further successful investments by Turkish corporates remains strong” he added.
Investing in sustainable energy and resource efficiency is a strategic priority for the EBRD in Turkey, it said. Almost half of the Bank's total portfolio in Turkey is in sustainable energy and since 2009 the EBRD has invested over Eur3 billion in more than 75 such projects, including two large wind farms – Bares and Rotor – and the largest geothermal power plant in Turkey (and second largest in Europe), Efeler.