NEWSLETTER-2017

284 NEWSLETTER 2017 Mergers of Unlicensed Generation Facilities With the amendment of Article 31 (18) of Unlicensed Generation Regulation now statutorily subjects the merger of generation facili- ties with (i) another unlicensed generation facility that is fully owned by the applicant generation facility, or within the body of (ii) an un- licensed generation facility that fully owns the applicant generation facility, conditional upon that all facilities involved in the merger shall have each received provisional acceptance. Regulation on Renewable Energy Resource Areas (“Renewables Zone Regulation”) The Regulation on Renewable Energy Resource Areas (“Renew- ables Zone Regulation”) governs the procedures and principles for identification, evaluation and utilization of renewable energy resource areas (“RERA”). General Directorate of Renewable Energy (“General Director- ate”) shall be the competent authority for the technical and administra- tive assessment for the identification of RERAs. Land sites identified by the Turkish Treasury and other public land sites as well as private property may be allocated for RERAs. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (“Ministry”) applies criteria such as type, potential and electricity costs per unit for the identification of RERAs and is the ultimate deciding authority to allocate RERA for a prospective invest- ment. The announcement of tender for the right of use in the identified RERAs for the assignment of connection capacity to investors shall be published in the Official Gazette and in the web site of the General Directorate. Only those entities, who undertake to (i) locally manufacture equipment announced by the Ministry, (ii) use locally manufactured equipment and (iii) bear the conditions determined in the Electricity Market License Regulation in order to apply to engage in generation activities in a RERA provided that they submit all required informa- tion and documentation to the Ministry.