Resource Efficiency Credit Line Phase II via TSKB

completed

One focus of German-Turkish cooperation is environmental and climate protection. The focus is on promoting renewable energies, improving energy and resource efficiency, environmental protection and the regional integration of Turkey into the pan-European energy community. Turkey is heavily dependent on energy imports and can only cover around 30% of its primary energy needs from its own resources. As a result of the strong economic growth of the last ten years, energy consumption has risen sharply. Growth in energy demand has been well over 6% p.a. in recent years. Turkey's annual per capita energy consumption (2011 Turkey 2.7 MWh/capita; OECD 8.23 MWh/capita) and CO2 emissions (2011 Turkey 3.86t CO2/capita; OECD 9.95t CO2/capita) are currently two thirds lower than in other OECD countries. At the same time, the energy intensity of the Turkish economy (measured in terms of energy use per economic output in GDP) is one third higher than the OECD average (2011 Turkey 0.18t oil equivalent/1,000 USD, OECD total 0.14t oil equivalent/1,000 USD). Against this background, the rapid expansion of domestic energy sources and the promotion of energy-saving measures in the industrial, building and transport sectors are key focuses of Turkish energy policy. Other production resources (water, raw materials, etc.) are also used comparatively inefficiently in Turkey. The country's resource productivity is only around half the EU average. The relevant Turkish legislation, which aims to comply with the EU environmental acquis, requires extensive investments in the field of environmental protection and resource efficiency in the medium term. However, many potentially profitable energy and resource efficiency measures in industry have not yet been implemented because the Turkish financial sector offers inadequate financing options for such investments. As part of an EU survey (European Commission, Flash Eurobarometer SMEs, Resource Efficiency and Green Markets, February 2012), Turkish companies stated that the implementation of energy and resource efficiency projects depends primarily on the availability of financial incentives, including loans on adapted terms, and technical advice on how to capitalize on savings potential across the entire value chain of their products and services. The aim of the project is to increase the availability of medium and long-term financing for private investments in the field of energy and resource efficiency as well as environmental measures in industry. Based on its extensive sector experience, the TSKB as a sponsor focuses on companies from the cement, steel, automotive supplier or paper sectors, for example, which have settled in special industrial settlement zones (Organized Industrial Zones, OIZ) and form sector-specific clusters. The TSKB can finance the investments of individual companies, e.g. electricity generation from waste heat in the cement plant, as well as joint investments of all companies located in the OIZ, e.g. in specialized sewage and hazardous waste plants or air filters. In addition to energy efficiency, the focus is on increasing process efficiency and promoting industrial recycling as well as implementing environmental measures in the area of water and air protection. The project contributes to reducing energy and resource intensity, or to reducing environmental pollution in Turkish industry and thus to reducing negative environmental and climate effects. The project is sponsored by the TSKB, which, as a privately owned national development bank, plays a central role in the implementation of Turkish environmental and economic policy.