The Business Year Special Report
Umut Gürbüz, Managing Partner, Asunim Turkey
With more than 200MW installed in 2020 so far, Asunim hopes to keep its lead in Turkey’s solar market, specifically in the industrial rooftop system and licensed system segments.
• Interview
How has Asunim adapted its operations to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic?
As a global company, we were well-prepared for the current working circumstances. Currently, all of our employees who are able to are working from home. We have six offices worldwide, and our headquarters are in Portugal. We execute all our projects with an international team—the engineering is already done remotely, so we are used to working in this fashion.
How might the COVID-19 pandemic impact demand for solar energy?
Such pandemics should make people rethink how we get our energy. This virus is in part due to global warming and other human impacts on the environment, as microorganisms, viruses, and bacteria are produced from these changes. If we change our minds and respect nature more, then solar will have a significant role in the future. In addition, one advantage of solar energy—over other renewable alternatives—that has become particularly clear right now is the decentralization of the solar industry. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, there is a benefit to decentralization, which naturally allows for social distancing. This pandemic will help people understand that energy can be produced in a much smarter way, like solar.
How does the modularity and simplicity of solar systems benefit end users?
Solar is the easiest to implement and is modular, so one can mount one module, five, or 1 million modules—there are some solar parks with gigawatt scales and small household units. Modularity has a number of advantages. It allows you to produce energy much closer to where you consume it, so there is minimal transmission costs. Modular units have become plug-and-play systems, and the overhead cost is much lower than alternatives. It has low operational and maintenance costs because there are no moving parts; it is a static system. The only thing one has to do is periodical operational maintenance services.
How does the availability of sunlight impact investment decisions in the sector?
Solar energy is more predictable than wind or even hydro. According to what we have seen through our operation and maintenance company, we have generally small deviations from our feasibility studies. The maximum deviation is perhaps 1-2% lower and up to 7-8% higher because of stronger radiation in the last few years. Hydro is less predictable because of drought or generally lower snowfall. Most hydro power plants are deviating from their feasibility studies. With wind power, wind is becoming unpredictable because of increasing temperatures. Conversely, solar is predictable and getting stronger annually because of global warming.
“If we change our minds and respect nature more, then solar will have a significant role in the future.”
Between utility, commercial, and residential-scale projects, where is Asunim most active?
In Turkey, Asunim usually focuses on large-scale utility systems. We have implemented more than 200MW in Turkey so far; in 2020, we will hopefully hit 250MW. We have implemented four licensed utility-scale systems. Apart from that, we are also leaders in industrial systems. We have implemented more than 20 different systems on industrial rooftops, for companies that manufacture aluminum, as well as a number of different sectors. The biggest challenge with the residential sector is the post-sales process because you are directly dealing with the end user. When the residential market is big enough, service providers are more likely to lead in this area. For industrial rooftop systems, the biggest incentive is keeping electricity costs low. The industrial rooftop market is open and does not need many regulations or incentives. In the utility scale segment, the biggest challenges are the incentive model, which is unclear in Turkey currently, and capacity. There is no new capacity for pure solar plants, so we need to look for new opportunities. There is a demand for hybrid systems, or the addition of solar units to existing power plants.
What are Asunim’s most important objectives in Turkey over 2020?
Our target in Turkey was and is at the moment to retain our leadership in the industrial rooftop systems. We also want to continue leading in the licensed system segment.