Ömer Fatih Keha, our General Manager of Aydem Renewables, explanied the journey of our company and the growth strategy for the next period tothe "Leadeers of Energy" supplement prepared by the Economist Magazine.
Aydem Renewables, one of the largest companies producing energy from 100 percent renewable resources with its portfolio size, aims to double its production power in 5 years. Our company, which was opened to the public in April last year and reached a transaction volume of 1.3 billion TL by collecting 5 times demand, has an installed power of 1.020 megawatts in four regions.
Ömer Fatih Keha, our General Manager of Aydem Renewables, said that as a company, they aim to increase their production power by 35 percent by the end of 2023. Ömer Fatih Keha said that the investment, which started in the field of Uşak WPP and is the largest hybrid solar power plant in Turkey, is one of the important steps we have taken in line with this goal and explained the company's growth strategy for the next period.
Can we get to know the company briefly? When was it established, with what goals?
In 1995, we started our renewable energy production journey under the umbrella of Aydem Energy. As Aydem Renewables, we launched Turkey's first private hydroelectric power plant in Denizli in 1997 to support the sustainable development of our country.
Our company is the leading company of our country in renewable energy today with the energy it produces. With our portfolio size and diversity, we are Turkey's largest company producing energy from 100% renewable sources.
Can you briefly tell us about their services and activities? What areas of energy are you in?
We meet Turkey's energy needs with clean energy production with our hydroelectric, wind, geothermal and LFG power plants, all of which consist of renewable resources. We have 25 renewable power plants across the country.
How far have you come since the foundation? Where did you got and gone ?
Today, we are proud to be the pioneer of the renewable energy sector in Turkey with our young, strong and diversified portfolio, knowledge and engineering competencies on the road we boldly embarked on by opening Turkey's first private hydroelectric power plant.
We have 27 years of experience in renewable energy production. Apart from our two hydroelectric power plants that we received from privatization, we implemented the construction, project development and implementation activities of all our power plants with our own competencies and resources. At the same time, we carry out the majority of the maintenance works in our plants with our expert maintenance-repair teams and high availability rate by using high technology. As a company whose only field of activity is renewable energy production, we have built all our values on sustainability awareness. We became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact in 2020 to expand and deepen our efforts in this field. In 2021, we updated our sustainability agenda in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and took it a step further and became a participant in the world's largest corporate initiative in this field.
"WE LEAD THE SECTOR WITH OUR INVESTMENTS"
We are in a period where the importance of renewable energy is gradually increasing and this importance is understood even more with the global developments. With a visionary approach, our company has already made an important progress in this field and we are leading the sector with our existing portfolio investments. Our investments in the field of renewable energy will continue with the same approach and appetite in the coming period. Our goal is to remain Turkey's largest renewable energy producer with an increasingly diverse production profile and therefore a more flexible business model.
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO ADD VALUE”
While increasing our efforts for the greening of Turkey's energy map, we continue our efforts to reduce the direct and indirect effects of our operations on the environment and to improve our own environmental performance. As Aydem Renewables, which is the leader of the Electricity and Gas Services Industry in Turkey with its A1 Advanced Level ranking with 65 points in the "Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)" performance evaluation made by the international independent rating agency Moody's/Vigeo Eiris, and has been successful in ranking first in the "Emerging Markets" ranking, we continue to be the leading company in the field of sustainability. While we are among the best in our sector with the ratings we received from the Climate Change and Water Safety programs of the Carbon Transparency Project, which is one of the most important environmental platforms in the world, we have become the company with the highest SER score in the sector in Turkey with its A-Leadership Level in the Supplier Loyalty Rating (SER).
With Akıncı Hydroelectric Power Plant in our portfolio, we had the pleasure of being selected as a "Low Carbon Hero" for the third time by the Sustainable Production and Consumption Association. In the first quarter of 2021, we were entitled to receive the "Zero Waste" certificate in all our plants.
We attach great importance to creating a safe, transparent, fair and supportive work environment for our employees based on fundamental rights and freedoms, equal opportunities and diversity. With our Equal Life initiative, we are trying to realize the transformation within ourselves in terms of gender equality in a way that includes all our stakeholders in our wide area of influence. In 2021, the Domestic Violence Fighting Procedure was published in order to raise awareness about domestic violence and to create a system where exposed Aydem Renewables People can talk and get help in confidence and confidentiality.
Another of our priorities in 2021 was to develop a work structure that is more digital and efficient and in line with the new world order. As the pioneer of renewable energy production, we will continue to work and add value to nature and people with the awareness of the key role we play in the future of our country and the world.
Can you tell us about the publicity process and its contributions as a company?
In April 2021, we achieved the largest public offering in our country in the last three years with a transaction volume of 1.3 billion TL, which we reached by collecting five times demands from more than 338 thousand investors. Our $750 million green bond issuance is the highest amount of bond issuance in Turkey at the first time, as well as the largest transaction carried out by a renewable energy company in the CEEMEA (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) Region. We have also revealed our difference with the financing model we have chosen for the investments we have made so far with the aim of a more livable world and committed to, especially hybrids.
In the interest of our bond issuance, our ranking, which made us the sector leader in Turkey, played a major role in the index of Moody's/Vigeo Eiris, the performance and rating agency we exhibited in the field of Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG). While Turkey reiterated our leadership in the same index in 2021, we added "emerging markets" to this success.
Due to the nature of our business, we are one of the most important stakeholders of our country's transition to low carbon economy with the "clean energy" we produce. We take care to produce energy with our environmentally friendly production model by obtaining Zero Waste Certificate, Renewable Energy (IREC) and Emission Reduction Certificates (VCS & GS) in our plants.
How many facilities do you have and where are they?
With our wide portfolio of 20 hydroelectric, three winds, one geothermal and one biogas power plant, we operate in four regions of Turkey: Black Sea, Aegean, Mediterranean and Marmara. In total, 84 percent of our 1020 MW installed power consists of HPPs, 16 percent of it consists of WPPs, and the remaining part consists of our JES and LFG power plants. Our annual production capacity is 3930 GWh.
How was 2021, how much growth and turnover did you achieve? How much electricity did you produce in 2021?
Since 84 percent of our portfolio consists of hydroelectric power plants, the weight of our production also constitutes hydroelectricity. The year 2021, which has been recorded as the driest year of the last 41 years, has seen the worst figures we can see in our energy production. Our production figures are also getting better compared to last year due to the fact that there are precipitation close to the average of many years in 2022. Our production in the first quarter was 661 GWh. This production is 45 percent higher than in the first quarter of last year. Throughout the year, our performance will continue in line with our expectations. In the coming years, we expect production above the average for many years.
However, despite the negativities we experienced in our production in 2021 due to drought, there have been many prominent developments for us. The most important development was undoubtedly our public offering and bond issuance. We have achieved the largest public offering in the last three years and have also successfully completed the Eurobond bond issuance process of $750 million with a maturity of 5.5 years. Another important development was that we started to invest in capacity increase and hybrid projects as of 2021. The turnover of our company in 2021 was 1.2 billion TL.
How's the year 2022 going? What are your growth and turnover targets for the end of this year and your expectations from 2023?
Due to the high rainfall in 2022 compared to last year, the production amounts of our plants have increased and therefore this increase is reflected in the turnover. In the first quarter of this year, we tripled our income to TL 849 million and increased our operating profit before Interest Tax and Depreciation to TL 721 million.
Can you tell us about your investment plans, how much investment budget do you plan?
We plan investments of solar power plants that will provide hybrid production and wind power plants that will be commissioned through capacity increase. Our investments planned to be commissioned on the basis of total installed power in 2022 and 2023 are 358 MW. Of this investment, 196 MW will be for hybrid solar power plants and the remaining 162 MW will be for wind capacity increases. We will finance it entirely through our internal resources and the cash flows we will obtain as a result of the activities.
In 2023, we will increase production and turnover with the inclusion of hybrid power plants to be commissioned in addition to our existing power plants and our power plants to increase capacity. With the completion of the investments, we will contribute positively to the enrichment of our portfolio diversity as well as increasing the installed power and capacity.
How much do you want to increase your installed power to?
We aim to increase the installed power of our 1,020-megawatt portfolio by 35 percent by the end of 2023. Our investment, which started in our Uşak WPP site and is Turkey's largest hybrid solar power plant, is one of the important steps we have taken in line with this goal. In addition to our hybrid investment projects planned in different fields of activity, we also closely monitor capacity increase and new investment opportunities.