Energy Efficiency Projects Should Be Prioritized

Energy Efficiency Projects Should Be Prioritized Noting that one of the country's most pressing issues is its energy import dependency, Plastic Sanayicileri Federasyonu (PLASFED) Board Chairman Ömer Karadeniz stated: "For this reason, our country's economy feels fluctuations in global energy markets more acutely. Since finding and activating new hydrocarbon sources will be a very lengthy and difficult process, priority should be given to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects." [caption id="attachment_129112" align="aligncenter"] Ömer Karadeniz[/caption] Emphasizing that the country could achieve a current account surplus without energy imports, Ömer Karadeniz said, "In this regard, I believe renewable energy investments offer significant potential for our country. Particularly in recent times, technological developments in solar energy panels have made the payback periods of these investments much more feasible. With the support provided by the public sector in recent years, important investments in this field have been realized. On the other hand, in addition to solar power plants built on vacant land, the rooftops of our industrial facilities also represent significant potential in this area. In this context, developing incentive mechanisms for installing solar energy systems on industrial facility rooftops will help accelerate this transformation. Another important issue is energy efficiency. Energy efficiency investments are viewed worldwide as an energy source. Indeed, when it comes to energy, reducing consumption is as important as increasing supply. Energy efficiency projects should be developed in our industrial facilities and machinery infrastructure should be updated to be energy-friendly. Similarly, if relevant public institutions provide encouraging incentives in this area, it will have an effect of reducing our country's energy imports." Karadeniz continued: "There are certain support mechanisms in place in the energy efficiency field, but these supports cover industrial facilities of medium and larger size with annual energy consumption of 500 TOE and above. However, as we all know, small businesses face much greater problems in energy efficiency. Moreover, even if these projects can self-finance in the medium term, limited access to financing for small businesses makes it much more difficult for them to undertake these investments. For this reason, the said support mechanisms should be revised to reach the grassroots level, or new support mechanisms should be created. By supporting physical infrastructure investments such as the replacement of inefficient electric motors used in industry and the widespread adoption of cogeneration systems, as well as completing regulatory work that would allow heat trading, it will be possible to significantly reduce our country's energy imports," he said. Noting that insulation is vital for minimizing energy consumption for residential climate control, Ömer Karadeniz stated, "If the use of plastic insulation materials that demonstrate superior performance in thermal insulation is made mandatory in residential construction, and if heat insulation projects for existing homeowners are made attractive through long-term low-interest loans, it will be possible to reduce natural gas consumption in residences, which accounts for approximately 25 percent of our total natural gas consumption."