ANKARA
By Gulsen Cagatay and Bahattin Gonultas
Innova, one of Turkey's fastest-growing technology companies, has joined a European Union project to help increase energy efficiency in Turkey.
Innova joined the EU's Research and Development project for the Smart Energy Awareness System on Tuesday.
Umit Atalay, General Manager of Innova, said: "When we look at world energy trends, we see that smart solutions become increasingly important."
"Energy saving starts with energy management."
Atalay said the project aims to create an online or mobile application which consumers can use to find out the current price of electricity, and so help to control consumption across Turkey's national electricity grid system.
"The project SEAS (Smart Energy Awareness System) was launched at the end of 2013 by the EU with partners from Spain, Finland, Portugal, Turkey and France," he said.
- Improved efficiency
The smart grid system uses information and communication technologies to integrate users connected to the electrical power system and monitor their energy usage.
The system encourages subscribers to improve their energy efficiency by purchasing electricity from the grid when the price is cheaper.
"The system provides its users with access to the energy market at any time via web sites or mobile devices," he said.
The system is more economical compared to Turkey's current system, he said, and allows consumers to make comparisons between different companies and alternative tariffs.
The EU's research project aims to increase energy efficiency and sustainability via smart energy awareness systems in buildings and micro-grid environments.
Riza Koroglu, the director of Istanbul-based Total Energy Efficiency, said that Turkey could save more than half of its spending on energy by adopting energy-efficiency policies.
"If Turkey reached the level of Germany – the world’s leading energy-efficient nation – the country could save $39 billion of its $65 billion annual energy spending," he said.
- 'Not a choice'
Recently two Turkish government ministers said the country needed to adopt and support energy-efficient policies.
Koroglu said: "Energy efficiency is not a choice; it is a requirement."
"Germany spends 1 kilowatt of electricity for the same work that Turkey spends 2.5 kilowatts of electricity on."
"If Turkey manages to reach Germany's level, Turkey could save up to 60 percent of its spending," he added.
Turkey could make a potential saving of 15 billion Turkish liras (about $7 billion) through adopting energy-efficient policies annually, according to the country’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Taner Yildiz.
Minister of Finance Mehmet Simsek said in September that the ministry was prepared to support energy efficiency with specific policies.
Energy spending is the biggest contributor to Turkey’s current deficit, he said.
Much research has been done on using smart grids to achieve highly efficient and user-friendly electrical power systems.
The project aims to lead to a unified system of energy management.
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