Should a Turkish factory prove renewable electricity with YEK-G certificates or with a direct power purchase agreement?

Question

Accepted Answer

A power purchase agreement (PPA) is a contract to buy electricity from one plant. A YEK-G (renewable energy source guarantee) certificate is the separate proof that 1 megawatt hour (MWh) came from a renewable plant. Turkey's regulation treats them as two things, so a contract alone does not hand you the certificate. A direct power purchase agreement (PPA) is like agreeing with one farm to buy its milk every month. It fixes who sells, how much, and when. A YEK-G certificate is like a stamped receipt for that milk. YEK-G stands for Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Garanti Belgesi, the renewable energy source guarantee certificate. The regulation says each certificate is an electronic document worth 1 MWh of electricity, and it proves that a set amount of the electricity supplied came from renewable sources. Retiring a certificate (itfa in the regulation) is like tearing the ticket at the door. It is tied to one consumption and cannot be passed on to anyone else. The market operator, Enerji Piyasaları İşletme Anonim Şirketi (Energy Exchange Istanbul, EPİAŞ), issues the certificates. One certificate is issued for each 1 MWh of certifiable output, for plants that hold a production licence, and only when the producer or an aggregator asks for it. A certificate is valid for 12 months from the end date of the production period of the electricity. Only licence holders can use the system: production, supply, charging network and aggregator licences. Producers under the unlicensed generation regulation cannot be system users. A plant that has an active registration in another certificate scheme in the same calendar year cannot be registered in YEK-G. Counting the same energy twice is defined as double counting: more than one certificate for the same 1 MWh, or one certificate retired more than once. Trading is allowed between system users in two ways: on the organised YEK-G market without any energy supply, or in bilateral YEK-G agreements, with or without the energy. The regulation lets certificates travel with the energy or separately. It does not say that signing a PPA creates a certificate for you. So the PPA and the certificate need to be agreed as two lines in the same deal. The regulation lists who the system users are, and a factory that only consumes is not on that list. My reading is that your supplier or the producer retires the certificates for your consumption. Article 11 lets a system user notify the operator of a retirement on behalf of a free consumer, with or without the energy supply. Ask whether you can get a retirement statement that names your company. Is the plant licensed, and is it registered in the YEK-G system? Will certificates be issued for the megawatt hours you are buying, and will they be retired for your consumption within their 12 months? Does the plant have an active registration in another certificate scheme this year? If yes, it cannot be registered in YEK-G. Does the contract say which of the two (PPA only, or PPA plus certificates) you are paying for? Certificates only: your electricity still comes from your supplier. You add proof for the share you cover. You can ask your supplier or another system user to retire them for you. A free consumer is a customer allowed to choose its supplier. Check that your factory is one. PPA with certificates: one contract gives you the energy and the proof, if the points above are in writing. PPA without certificates: you hold a contract, not a YEK-G retirement. Whether your buyer accepts that is the buyer's rule, so ask in writing before you sign.

Should a Turkish factory prove renewable electricity with YEK-G certificates or with a direct power purchase agreement?

What each one is, in plain words

What the regulation says about YEK-G

What that means for a direct PPA (my reading)

Questions to put to a PPA seller

Which to pick

A factory with a 75 percent PPA (example numbers)

What Senseible does here