Pair domestic panel manufacturing with utility-scale solar

Submitted through the COP31 Sustainable Transformation Awards · SKD Türkiye (WBCSD Global Network Partner)

Smart Güneş Teknolojileri manufactures wafers, cells and solar panels and develops solar power plants, with more than 1,000 employees and an integrated production facility at Aliağa.

The solar value chain in Türkiye has historically depended on imported components, while the manufacturing that supplies it consumes grid electricity with the emissions that carries. The company's position sits on both sides of that problem: it produces the equipment for the energy transition and it operates an energy-intensive factory.

The response was to connect the two. The company won the YEKA GES-4 Bor-1 tender in 2022 under the national renewable energy resource area mechanism, and moved to electricity generation and sales in 2025, so the plant is in operation rather than under development.

The intent is a single chain running from domestic production through domestic cells and panels to a utility-scale plant and on to industrial decarbonisation, so that the company's own manufacturing consumption is matched against its own renewable generation.

The comparative base year for project impact is 2023. Before the plant, the company had no renewable electricity generation of its own at the Niğde Bor site, so generation capacity was not part of its carbon management strategy.

The project is financed with a EUR 20.5 million green loan from an international commercial bank and is carried out in line with the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV, in addition to the national environmental impact assessment process. The company holds a net zero target for 2040.

Location of the initiative: Bor, Niğde, Türkiye

The plant has an installed capacity of approximately 130 MWm and is targeted to generate approximately 260 million kWh of renewable electricity a year.

The generation is not sold in isolation from the company's own footprint. The output is associated with the electricity consumption of the Aliağa integrated production facility through I-REC certificates, so that the manufacturing operation's purchased electricity is matched with renewable generation the company owns.

The equipment comes from the company's own production. Domestic wafer, cell and panel manufacturing supplies the plant, which makes the installation an application of the company's manufacturing capability rather than a procurement exercise, and keeps the supply chain traceable.

Environmental and social management goes beyond the national environmental impact assessment requirement. The project is supported by an environmental and social impact assessment, a climate change risk assessment, a stakeholder engagement plan and a biodiversity management plan, all voluntarily adopted under the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV.

Greenhouse gas accounting follows the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO 14064-1:2018, and the inventory is subject to independent verification under ISO 14064-3:2019.

The combination of these elements — manufacturing capability, a utility-scale plant under the national tender mechanism, green financing, international environmental and social standards, and certificate-based matching to industrial consumption — is what the company presents as the transferable model, rather than the plant on its own.

Figure 1: The integrated chain from the company's own cells and modules through the Niğde Bor plant and the national grid to certificate issuance and retirement against the factory's electricity consumption, with the plant's capacity, generation target and avoided-emission target set out beneath it.

Smart Güneş's integrated model links domestic solar manufacturing with the Niğde Bor YEKA-4 plant and certificate-based matching against Aliağa's industrial electricity consumption.

Figure 2: Verified 2025 corporate Scope 2 emissions — 29,344.2 tonnes of CO2e location-based against nil market-based — shown separately from the Niğde Bor plant's full-year targets for capacity, generation and avoided emissions.

Sustainability impact

Climate

The initiative addresses Scope 2 emissions — the electricity purchased for the company's manufacturing operations — and, at the plant itself, a small volume of Scope 1 emissions from its own operation.

The verified result for 2025 is that location-based Scope 2 emissions were 29,344.21 tCO2e, and that balancing the same quantity with I-REC certificates brought market-based Scope 2 emissions to 0 tCO2e as reported.

The generation and avoidance figures are targets rather than realised outcomes. Approximately 130 MWm of installed capacity is targeted to produce approximately 260 million kWh a year and, through association with the Aliağa facility's consumption, to create a net negative effect of approximately 165,169 tCO2e a year, calculated on the grid factor used in the environmental and social impact assessment.

The plant was partially commissioned on 1 August 2025, so 2025 is not a full operating year. Between 1 August and 31 December 2025 it generated 54,277 MWh of electricity. Full acceptance was completed on 4 March 2026 and the site has run at full capacity since that date, so the annual generation and avoided-emission figures remain full-year targets and the first full operating-year result will be reported for 2026.

The project's own emissions were projected in that assessment at approximately 1,648.96 tCO2e for the construction period and approximately 28.80 tCO2e a year for the operating period, the latter being Scope 1.

Accounting follows the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO 14064-1:2018, with the inventory independently verified under ISO 14064-3:2019, and the base year for comparison is 2023.

Nature

Land-based solar development carries habitat and species risk, and the project manages it through a biodiversity management plan rather than through the national environmental impact assessment alone.

Endemic and sensitive species and habitat applications are monitored under that plan, and it is one of the five indicators the company tracks for the project.

Four endemic plant species specific to the project area — Petrosimonia nigdeensis, Limonium tamaricoides, Onopordum davisii and Gypsophila oblanceolata — have been identified and brought under protection. They are marked and demarcated on site and, where needed, moved to suitable microhabitats to prevent damage. Habitat measures also cover fauna including larks, storks, red kites and Anatolian ground squirrels: presence and habitat use are tracked, operations are restricted in ecologically sensitive areas, and site rules limit disturbance to wildlife.

The monitoring shows vegetation recovering across the project sites. The vegetation improvement rate reached approximately 25 per cent by 2024 and approximately 40 per cent on an area basis in 2025.

Land selection and biodiversity effects are named by the company among the main risks to the model, alongside grid capacity, permitting, financing cost and local stakeholder expectations, and are managed through the environmental and social impact assessment and the climate risk assessment.

Social

Local communities were engaged through stakeholder participation activities around the three villages identified in the environmental and social impact assessment.

Residents were informed, and their views, suggestions and concerns were followed through a stakeholder engagement plan and a grievance mechanism, so that feedback had a defined route rather than depending on informal contact.

Local authorities and administrative stakeholders contributed to permitting processes, site applications and the incorporation of local conditions into the project.

The domestic manufacturing element also carries a national dimension: producing the wafers, cells and panels in Türkiye keeps the industrial activity and the associated employment inside the country rather than in the supply chain of an imported system.

Business impact

Benefits

The company's own renewable generation has become an active part of its carbon management strategy rather than a purchased attribute, which is what allows market-based Scope 2 emissions to be reported at 0 tCO2e for 2025.

The plant generates revenue in its own right through electricity generation and sales under the national tender framework, so the carbon position and the commercial return come from the same asset.

Compliance with the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV supports the project's acceptability and financeability with lending institutions, which is what made the EUR 20.5 million green loan available and establishes a template for financing further plants.

Using domestically produced wafers, cells and panels reduces exposure to imported supply and makes the supply chain traceable, which matters increasingly to industrial customers assessing their own upstream emissions.

The model has already been extended: a solar plant in Kahramanmaraş is directed at the electricity requirement of the company's Gebze facility, applying the same logic of matching generation to a specific industrial load.

Costs

The total capital cost of the approximately 130 MWm plant is approximately TRY 5.1 billion, covering the photovoltaic modules, transformers, construction works and other plant-related capital expenditure and excluding financing costs. A EUR 20.5 million green loan from an international commercial bank supports part of it, so financing cost and the terms attached to it are a standing part of the economics.

Meeting the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV adds cost and time before construction: an environmental and social impact assessment, a climate change risk assessment, a stakeholder engagement plan and a biodiversity management plan, all beyond the national environmental impact assessment requirement. Those programmes carry their own price: the environmental and social impact assessment programme was contracted at USD 104,937 excluding tax, covering project management, baseline studies, impact assessment, the assessment report and the environmental and social management plan; the lenders' independent environmental and social consultant was engaged for the pre-financial-close due diligence and the initial environmental and social action plan at EUR 63,300 excluding tax.

The construction period itself was projected to generate approximately 1,648.96 tCO2e, which is an emissions cost carried up front against generation benefits realised over the plant's life.

Operating cost includes plant operation and maintenance, the projected approximately 28.80 tCO2e a year of operating emissions, and the purchase and retirement of I-REC certificates for the matching arrangement. The certificate arrangement cost TRY 167,188 in 2025, covering plant registration, generation crediting and credit issuance fees; the TRY 48,000 registration fee is valid for five years and is spread evenly, so TRY 9,600 of it falls in 2025.

The main risks identified are grid capacity, permitting processes, financing cost, land selection, biodiversity effects and local stakeholder expectations, several of which are outside the company's control and determine the schedule more than construction does.

Impact beyond sustainability and business

Co-benefits

The model gives financial institutions a low-carbon investment example built to standards they already apply, and gives industrial companies a decarbonisation route based on renewable electricity that they can assess against their own consumption.

Domestic production of the wafers, cells and panels supports traceable clean technology supply in place of import dependence, which strengthens both energy security and the industrial base.

The structure is described by the company as extendable to solar plants with storage, to green hydrogen and to integrated production investments in other geographies over the longer term.

The components — suitable solar resource, connection capacity and land or roof availability — mean the approach applies to industrial facilities, organised industrial zones and energy-intensive production sites generally, not only to a manufacturer of solar equipment.

Potential side-effects

Certificate-based matching and physical supply are not the same thing. The location-based Scope 2 figure of 29,344.21 tCO2e reflects the electricity actually drawn from the grid at the factory, and it does not fall because certificates are retired against it; only the market-based figure moves to zero.

Ground-mounted solar occupies land and affects habitat, which is why the biodiversity management plan and the monitoring of endemic and sensitive species are part of the project rather than an addition to it.

Grid capacity and permitting are external constraints. A plant can be financed and built faster than a connection can be secured, and the company identifies both as primary risks.

The annual generation and avoided emission figures are projections at this stage. They depend on the plant reaching full capacity performance, which the company itself sets as the short-term priority, so the case should be read as an operational plant with targets still to be verified over a full year.

Typical business profile

The model suits energy-intensive manufacturers with substantial and predictable electricity consumption that can be matched against dedicated renewable generation, and that have access to suitable solar resource, grid connection capacity and land or roof area.

It is directly applicable to industrial facilities, organised industrial zones and energy-intensive production sites, and is strongest where the company can commit to a long-term relationship between one generating asset and one consuming site.

A manufacturer of solar components gains an additional advantage, because the plant becomes an application of its own production capability, but the matching logic does not depend on that.

Delivery engages the board and senior management, a sustainability committee, production and investment units, and finance, legal, environmental and sustainability teams, because tender participation, project financing and international environmental and social standards each require a different function to lead.

Approach

1. Secure a site through a defined national framework: Enter the renewable energy resource area tender process — the YEKA GES-4 Bor-1 tender in this case, won in 2022 — so that land allocation, licensing and offtake conditions are established before capital is committed.

2. Size the plant against a specific industrial load: Set capacity by reference to the consumption it is intended to match, here approximately 130 MWm targeted at approximately 260 million kWh a year against the Aliağa integrated production facility.

3. Supply the plant from own manufacturing where the capability exists: Use domestically produced wafers, cells and panels so that the supply chain is traceable and the investment reinforces the manufacturing base rather than importing it.

4. Adopt international environmental and social standards before seeking finance: Apply the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV alongside the national environmental impact assessment, since lender acceptability and bankability follow from that compliance.

5. Run the assessments the standards require as a package: Complete an environmental and social impact assessment, a climate change risk assessment, a stakeholder engagement plan and a biodiversity management plan together, so that land, climate, community and habitat risks are managed on one timetable.

6. Engage the communities the assessment identifies: Inform residents in the affected settlements — three villages here — and operate a grievance mechanism so views, suggestions and concerns are recorded and answered.

7. Raise financing against the standards achieved: Use green loan instruments, in this case EUR 20.5 million from an international commercial bank, where compliance with the environmental and social framework is the basis of the lending decision.

8. Match generation to consumption through certificates: Associate the plant's output with the manufacturing site's electricity consumption using I-REC certificates, so the market-based Scope 2 position reflects the company's own generation.

9. Account and verify to recognised standards: Apply the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO 14064-1:2018, obtain independent verification under ISO 14064-3:2019, and disclose through CDP and ISSB and TCFD-aligned reporting.

10. Monitor full capacity performance before extending the model: Track the plant's output against target in the short term, then transfer the approach to further self-consumption and industrial decarbonisation projects.

Stakeholders involved

• Project leads: The board and senior management own the project as an output of the company's strategy on sustainable growth, energy transition and vertical integration, and treat sustainability as part of investment decisions, production planning, procurement and risk management rather than as a separate reporting duty. Corporate ownership runs through a sustainability committee and associated working groups, together with production and investment units and the finance, legal, environmental and sustainability teams. Active working groups cover sustainable supply chain, carbon management, sustainable finance and risk management, and circular economy.

• Company functions: The Niğde Bor project is monitored inside that governance structure across four dimensions: environmental and social impact management, climate risk assessment, stakeholder engagement and biodiversity management. Continuity over the medium and long term is held by the 2040 net zero target, the integrated production infrastructure, the renewable energy portfolio, green financing sources, compliance with international environmental and social standards, and annual sustainability and integrated reporting.

• Main providers: Suppliers and business partners contributed through domestic cell and panel use, equipment supply, engineering and construction, and operation and maintenance. Financial institutions and independent consultants supported the delivery of the environmental and social assessment processes in line with the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV, and independent verification bodies carry out the greenhouse gas inventory verification and external assurance.

• Other: On the public side, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources ran the renewable energy resource area process, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change ran the environmental impact assessment process, and TEİAŞ, the national transmission system operator, determined the connection arrangements. All three were decisive for project design and feasibility. Local governments and administrative stakeholders contributed to permitting, site applications and the incorporation of local conditions. Local communities in the three villages identified in the assessment were engaged through the stakeholder engagement plan and grievance mechanism. Academic institutions and non-governmental organisations are also part of the stakeholder structure.

Key parameters to consider

Installed capacity is approximately 130 MWm, with an annual generation target of approximately 260 million kWh. The plant was awarded in 2022 and entered generation and sales in 2025, so results should be read against a first operating period rather than a mature one.

Five indicators are tracked: renewable electricity generation, market-based Scope 2 emissions, avoided emissions, project operating period emissions, and the endemic and sensitive species and habitat applications monitored under the biodiversity management plan.

The avoided emission figure of approximately 165,169 tCO2e a year is derived from the grid factor used in the environmental and social impact assessment, and is a target. The verified figures to date are the 2025 Scope 2 results.

Risks are grid capacity, permitting processes, financing cost, land selection, biodiversity effects and local stakeholder expectations, managed through the environmental impact assessment and the environmental and social impact assessment, the stakeholder engagement plan, the biodiversity management plan and climate risk assessments.

Implementation and operations tips

Adopt the international environmental and social standards before approaching lenders rather than in response to them. The compliance work with the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles IV is what made the project financeable, and retrofitting it after a financing discussion has begun costs more time than doing it first.

Size the plant against a named consuming site. Matching generation to a specific facility's consumption gives the investment a defined carbon purpose and a defined revenue base, which is harder to argue for a plant sold entirely into the market.

Separate what is verified from what is targeted when reporting. The company's verified position is the 2025 Scope 2 result; the annual generation and avoidance figures are projections, and treating them as equivalent would undermine both.

Start the community engagement with the assessment, not after construction. The three villages identified in the assessment were engaged through a plan with a grievance mechanism, which gives concerns a route before they become objections.

Expect grid capacity and permitting to set the schedule. Both are outside the developer's control and are named by the company among the principal risks.