The World Bank on Tuesday has given the green light to a newly approved initiative aimed at boosting the adoption of renewable energy in public establishments within Türkiye.

The Public and Municipal Renewable Energy Project, with a budget of $549 million, aims to assist Türkiye in expanding the utilization of renewable energy sources within the public sector. The project's primary focus will be on central government and municipal facilities.

"Renewable energy for public facilities can help mitigate the impact of rising energy prices on municipal energy bills while helping Türkiye deliver on its climate commitments," Humberto Lopez, World Bank country director for Türkiye said.

"The project will bring many benefits to the economy and the environment as the building sector is one of the largest energy-consuming and carbon-emitting sectors in the country which has a direct impact on the health of the citizens," he said.

Türkiye possesses abundant renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind and geothermal energy. Despite already having renewable energy account for approximately half of its total installed capacity and 45% of power generation, further efforts are required to reduce carbon emissions within the country’s power sector.

The project aims to facilitate the growth of the decentralized renewable energy market in public establishments by specifically addressing the financial constraints in funding capital investments. It also aims to establish effective implementation methods to overcome the limited technical and execution capabilities of renewable energy projects. This initiative will showcase the public sector's commitment to utilizing sustainable energy solutions, fulfilling the country's climate mitigation objectives, and strengthening energy security. Additionally, the project will provide support for pilot programs that demonstrate the integration of decentralized renewable energy with heat pumps for heating purposes, which is crucial for reducing carbon emissions in the building sector.

Almudena Mateos Merino and Manuel Jose Millan Sanchez, senior energy specialists and task team leaders of the project, also commented by saying, "Scaling up renewable energy has been at the core of Türkiye’s development policies and will continue to play a critical role in meeting the country’s net zero emission targets."

"Citizens will have an additional benefit from the renewable energy investments by the central government and municipalities as budgetary resources saved from energy bills could be deployed to enhance other priority services for them," they underlined.