An Example For Turkey’s Energy Transition: "Energiewende"

This paper aims to examine the energy policies (Energiewende) implemented in Germany to develop policy recommendations for Turkey. Germany has successfully transformed from nuclear and fossil fuel to renewable energies. For this reason, Germany, which has undergone radical reforms to develop renewable energies, is an essential example for Turkey to determine effective energy policies. In the development of Energiewende, incentives offered by the German governments played an essential role. The German government has encouraged the energy producers and technology-developing companies in multiple ways, ranging from funding, grant loans to financing subsidies. In the development of Energiewende, the German development bank "KfW" and the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control "BAFA" have made significant contributions. In addition to those, Energiewende is the product of a social consensus involving non-governmental organizations, voluntary initiatives, and other non-market organizations. In recent years, Turkey has focused on policies that prioritize the development of nuclear and renewable energies in meeting the increasing energy needs. Turkey aimed to use renewable resources in primary energy supply and electric power generation. Turkey targeted increasing private sector investments by offering feed-in-tariffs, thus creating a competitive market. However, she has not fulfilled her target in increasing the energy investments. Hence, for Turkey's sustainable development goals, existing policies for renewable energy need to be strengthened, and the awareness of the community should be increased. Accordingly, this paper aims to present policy recommendations for Turkey based on the energy policies implemented in Germany.