Insights · Energy
Türkiye has spent two decades building one of the fastest-growing onshore wind markets in Europe — from roughly 20 MW in 2005 to more than 15 GW today. It has no offshore wind capacity at all. That is about to change. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has published the draft specification for the country’s first offshore wind competition under the Renewable Energy Resource Zone scheme, YEKA DÜRES-2026 (Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Alanı – Deniz Üstü Rüzgar Enerjisi Santrali), covering 1,000 MW of connection capacity, and the Minister has said the formal notice will follow with the competition itself expected in the first quarter of 2027.
This note sets out where the process stands, how the draft commercial architecture works, and the legal questions an investor, turbine manufacturer or EPC contractor should be asking before committing a bid bond. It is based on the draft specification and public statements as of early October 2026; the final terms may differ.
The draft follows the familiar YEKA model used onshore since 2017, adapted for the sea. The key elements, as published:
Allocation and tenure. 1,000 MW of connection capacity is to be awarded by open reverse auction: sealed financial bids first, then live descending bidding among the lowest bidders. The successful bidder receives a 49-year usage right over the YEKA site and the connection capacity.
Price. A ceiling of 11 US cents/kWh and a floor of 7 US cents/kWh, denominated in US dollars. A higher rate of 12 US cents/kWh applies for early commissioning — if the plant reaches commercial operation within seven years of contract signature.
Capacity-factor protection. The draft recognises that offshore resource risk cannot be fully priced before measurement. Economic terms are calibrated to a 43 per cent baseline capacity factor, with a price uplift of 2.5 per cent for each percentage point below the baseline. Below 40 per cent, the investor may request termination with documented justification. Within the first four years, capacity may be revised by up to 50 per cent in light of seabed and metocean survey results, or the investor may exit.
Security. A USD 50 million application guarantee and a USD 200 million contract guarantee.
Local content. A minimum of 25 per cent domestic content measured against total investment value, with a penalty of USD 5 million for each percentage point of shortfall. In addition, price supplements are offered for certified domestically manufactured components: generators and gearboxes (0.6 US cents/kWh), blades (0.3), foundations and subsea cables (0.2) and towers (0.1).
Timeline. Meteorological and oceanographic measurement must begin within one year of signing and run for at least 12 months; geophysical and geotechnical surveys within two years; a pre-licence period of up to 36 months; construction of up to 36 months, extendable by 12.
Three features make the Turkish programme unusually interesting for foreign capital and foreign supply chains.
First, the dollar-indexed tariff. Turkish YEKA contracts have historically been denominated in US dollars, which removes the lira exposure that complicates many other Turkish infrastructure investments and makes the revenue stream bankable for international lenders.
Second, the supply-chain geography. Türkiye already hosts a substantial onshore wind manufacturing base — blades, towers and, increasingly, nacelle assembly — built up under earlier YEKA local-content rules. Offshore foundations, subsea cables and installation vessels are the gaps. The local-content supplements in the draft are designed to pull that investment in, and the Roadmap frames Türkiye as a potential regional hub serving both European and Middle Eastern markets.
Third, the floating frontier. Because so much of the resource is in deep water, Türkiye is one of the few markets where a serious floating pipeline is plausible in the 2030s. For developers and OEMs with floating technology, the 2027 fixed-bottom competition is a way into a market that may later be defined by floating.
A 49-year maritime usage right in a Turkish YEKA is a different instrument from an onshore YEKA, and from a seabed lease in a North Sea jurisdiction. The questions below are the ones that in our experience of Turkish wind projects determine whether a bid is bankable.
1. What exactly does the usage right cover, and against whom? The YEKA grants a right to use a defined sea area and connection capacity. The Aegean sites sit alongside shipping lanes approaching the Dardanelles, fishing grounds, military exercise areas and protected habitats. Investors should understand how the Ministry’s allocation interacts with the Coastal Law, maritime zoning, defence-use restrictions and the environmental impact assessment (ÇED) regime — and what happens if a competing public use is asserted after award.
2. How are the risks allocated when the surveys disappoint? The capacity-factor and exit mechanisms are investor-friendly on paper. In practice their value depends on how “documented justification” is assessed, on what happens to the guarantees on exit, and on whether the 50 per cent capacity revision affects the connection allocation. These are drafting points to raise now, while the specification is still being finalised.
3. Is the local-content penalty a liquidated damages clause or something else? USD 5 million per percentage point is a large number. How domestic content is measured across a multi-year, multi-vendor procurement — including foundations and cables sourced from a Turkish subsidiary of a foreign group — will drive the structuring of the supply chain and of any joint venture.
4. Grid and curtailment. The northern Aegean is at the edge of the Turkish transmission system. The specification allocates connection capacity, but the timing of TEİAŞ reinforcement works, the treatment of curtailment and the interaction with the planned USD 30 billion transmission programme need to be understood before the price is fixed.
5. Foreign investor structuring. Non-Turkish bidders will typically act through a Turkish project company, often in a consortium with a domestic partner for local-content and permitting reasons. Shareholder arrangements, change-of-control consents under the YEKA contract, licence transfer rules and exit mechanics should be designed before pre-qualification, not after award.
6. Change in law and dispute resolution. The tariff is set under a Ministry contract and the licence is issued by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, EMRA (Enerji Piyasası Düzenleme Kurumu, EPDK). Investors should examine the stabilisation language, the forum for disputes and the enforcement route for any award, and should map the Turkish administrative-law remedies that apply to Ministry and EMRA decisions.
Aquila Law & Consultancy advises developers, investors, turbine and component manufacturers and EPC contractors on wind and solar projects in Türkiye, including YEKA competitions, licensing before EMRA, project and corporate structuring, due diligence and EPC and enforcement disputes. We work in English, Turkish, Russian, Chinese and Italian from Istanbul.
If you are considering the YEKA DÜRES-2026 competition, we would be glad to discuss it in confidence.
This note is general information, not legal advice. Figures are taken from the draft specification and public reporting as of October 2026 and may change in the final tender documents.
Sources
Confidential, without obligation. English, Turkish, Russian, Chinese and Italian.