A business planning a solar power plant in a Turkish organized industrial zone, commonly called an OSB, needs more than a suitable roof or an unused area of land. It must identify the legal category of its electricity generation, the consumption facility linked to that generation, the proposed grid connection and its right to use the project site. Rooftop and ground mounted projects may face different questions under planning, building, environmental and OSB rules.
License exempt generation does not mean permission free generation. A project may still require a grid connection assessment, approval of electrical designs, relevant building and environmental procedures, provisional acceptance and arrangements for operating the plant. An OSB’s position on the use of a parcel or roof must also be distinguished from the grid operator’s assessment of available connection capacity. These decisions should be built into one realistic investment timetable.
Bektaş Hukuk Bürosu, led by Attorney Bahadır Bektaş, advises on the legal planning of rooftop and ground mounted solar projects in Turkish organized industrial zones. Its work includes reviewing rights to use roofs and parcels, following permit processes and assessing project agreements. Examining OSB decisions, grid capacity and contractual commitments before substantial expenditure can help investors avoid delays and losses that are difficult to remedy later.
Define the investment model before selecting equipment
The first decision is how the electricity will be used. The investor should establish which consumption facility will be linked to the plant, who holds that facility’s electricity subscription and whether the proposed generation is intended primarily for the factory’s own needs. If the factory is leased, the electricity customer, the owner of the roof and the owner of the solar equipment may be different persons. Application documents and contracts must address those relationships consistently.
There is no single installed capacity figure that answers every OSB solar application. The applicable category of license exempt generation, the connection voltage, the consumption facility’s contractual power and the capacity available on the grid all matter. A forecast based only on the total amount shown on last year’s electricity bills can also be misleading. Working hours, seasonal demand and planned expansion affect how much solar electricity the business will actually consume.
The legal review should therefore accompany the technical feasibility study. Title documents, the OSB allocation or lease, electricity subscription records and the business activity carried out on the parcel should be examined together. A solar facility supporting an operating factory’s consumption raises different OSB land use questions from a project conceived solely as a stand alone electricity sales business. The Ministry of Energy’s current guidance also treats the relationship with a consumption facility and the rules on surplus generation as central features of license exempt production.
The OSB and the grid operator perform different roles
An OSB assesses matters concerning the use of space within the zone, its planning arrangements and the participant’s rights under OSB rules. If the OSB holds an electricity distribution license, it may also be the relevant network operator for a participant’s connection application. Depending on the connection point and licensing structure, the application may instead involve a regional distribution company or, for a transmission level connection, TEİAŞ. The competent operator should be identified from the actual connection and license documents.
These functions remain distinct even where the same OSB performs both. A general letter stating that a solar installation is acceptable does not necessarily reserve grid capacity for a specified plant. Conversely, a favorable technical connection assessment does not establish that an investor has a sufficient right to use a roof or that a parcel complies with its planning designation. Both sets of conditions need written confirmation.
Before committing to procurement, the investor should seek the OSB’s position on the proposed location, the intended use and any corporate decision required within the zone. The network assessment should cover the connection level, transformer and feeder capacity, protection arrangements, metering and requested power. Conditions in the OSB correspondence and the grid documents should then be compared. A discrepancy discovered after equipment has been ordered may be costly to correct.
Rooftop projects depend on building and roof rights
A favorable solar yield estimate does not establish that a factory roof is ready for a plant. Its structural capacity, existing permits, fire safety arrangements, waterproofing, access for maintenance and electrical infrastructure require review. The layout should preserve the function of skylights, smoke extraction systems, ventilation equipment and routes needed for firefighting and maintenance.
A tenant’s general right to occupy a factory should not automatically be treated as authority to alter its roof, install a long life asset or grant security over that asset. A separate agreement may need to address ownership of the panels, access for repairs, removal when the roof must be renewed, liability for water leaks and the position when the lease expires. The agreement must also fit the OSB’s rules governing participants and tenants.
The existence of an occupancy permit for the factory does not settle every question created by a new solar installation. Structural reinforcement, changes to the roof, a technical room or a different electrical connection may call for further design or building procedures. The OSB’s planning and building unit should review the actual proposal. Approval of the electrical design and completion of building related steps should be tracked separately.
Ground mounted projects require a closer land use review
For a ground mounted plant, the first question is whether the site may lawfully be used for the proposed purpose. The parcel’s OSB allocation, planning designation, plan notes, existing industrial development and the investor’s property or contractual rights all matter. Land allocated for industrial production cannot simply be treated as an unrestricted site for a separate electricity business. A facility intended to supply the participant’s own factory also needs to be assessed against its actual connection and land use arrangements.
Older OSB solar guides sometimes refer to a rule limiting ground installations to 25 percent of an industrial parcel. That restriction was removed in March 2022. Its removal does not confer an unconditional right to cover an otherwise unused parcel with panels. Current planning rules, allocation conditions, OSB decisions and grid capacity still need review.
Additional care is needed if the project would use an OSB common area or land belonging to another participant. The competent OSB body, the legal form and duration of the use right and any necessary planning procedure should be identified before an investment commitment is made. The land requirement extends beyond panel rows: transformers, cable routes, drainage, service access and safe maintenance space must be included. Agreements should also allocate the cost of removing the plant and restoring the area when the right of use ends.
Prepare a consistent grid connection file
The connection application must describe the applicant, the linked consumption facility, the generation site, requested capacity and proposed technical solution consistently. EPDK publishes the applicable license exempt generation materials, while the Ministry of Energy provides application guidance and technical assessment forms. Differences between documents concerning the subscriber, location or plant capacity can cause corrections and delay.
A favorable network assessment is followed by further steps, including the invitation to enter into a connection agreement and the approval of technical projects where applicable. The invitation is an important milestone, but it does not certify that every land, building or environmental requirement has been completed. The electrical design must match the connection conditions. Later changes to panels, inverters, transformers or protection equipment should be checked against the approved project before installation.
Deadlines in the connection documents and the applicable generation rules should be placed on a single project calendar. The investor also needs to consider whether the factory may move, the subscriber may change or production at the consumption facility may cease during the plant’s operating life. These possibilities are particularly important where the generation and consumption sites differ or the project is installed on a leased factory.
Planning, building and environmental approvals
A positive electrical connection decision does not amount to planning or building approval. A rooftop installation may involve changes to an existing building; a ground mounted project may raise questions about the parcel’s permitted use, soil conditions, access and ancillary structures. If a plan change or approval from another authority is required, that procedure should be identified during feasibility rather than left until construction is due to begin.
A regulation published on 24 July 2026 governs specified planning and permit procedures carried out by the Ministry of Energy for wind and solar plants holding a preliminary or generation license. Its stated scope should not automatically be extended to an OSB participant’s license exempt solar project. The project’s licensing status and the authority competent for its OSB planning and building matters must be determined separately.
Environmental screening likewise requires a project specific assessment. The current Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation and its annexes should be checked against the project’s type, area, capacity, ancillary works and location. Türkiye’s Ministry of Environment issued Circular 2026/4 on the application of the assessment regime in March 2026. Where classification is uncertain, obtaining a written position from the competent authority can reduce the risk of starting work on an incorrect assumption.
The environmental review may extend beyond the panels themselves. Cable corridors, new access routes and works in or near protected areas can bring other authorities into the process. The same is true where land is subject to agricultural, forestry or aviation restrictions. Whether any of these matters applies depends on the site; they should be checked against the proposed layout instead of appearing as generic conditions in every project contract.
Construction, provisional acceptance and energization
The procurement and construction timetable must be aligned with permits and grid milestones. Ordering nonreturnable equipment before capacity is confirmed may leave the investor carrying finance and storage costs. Waiting until every procedure has concluded before starting procurement may create a different risk if the applicable project deadlines are short. An EPC agreement should therefore connect delivery and payment stages to clearly identified approvals.
Once the installation is complete, compliance with the approved design, protective settings, meters, testing records and monitoring equipment must be checked. The competent acceptance procedure and the network operator’s connection and system use steps should be completed before energization. Acceptance records, any list of defects and evidence that defects have been corrected are also important for enforcing the contractor’s obligations.
Operation requires continuing attention. Panel maintenance, inverter service, insurance, roof waterproofing and production monitoring should have clear owners and reporting intervals. Records of grid interruptions, shading and maintenance help distinguish a defect in equipment from a shortfall caused by site or network conditions. That distinction can determine whether a performance claim under the EPC agreement succeeds.
Self consumption, netting and surplus electricity
The project’s financial return depends on the rules for linking generation to consumption and settling the measured electricity. A plant may have a strong annual production forecast but deliver less bill saving than expected if the factory’s demand occurs at different times. The rules governing the purchase and pricing of surplus energy must be assessed under the plant’s particular license exempt category rather than assumed from a generic solar forecast.
The Ministry of Energy’s current guidance states that the amount of surplus generation eligible for sale is subject to a limit related to the linked facility’s electricity consumption. A financial model should therefore not assume that every unit exported to the grid will be purchased at a chosen price. Applicable OSB distribution or service charges, maintenance, insurance and potential production losses should also be included.
Where generation and consumption facilities are at different locations, their distribution regions and the applicable linking and settlement rules need specific examination. Changes to the subscriber or the corporate structure can also affect the assumptions on which the original project was approved. Those effects should be considered before a factory move, business sale or share transaction is agreed.
Allocate permit and performance risks in the contracts
An EPC agreement should say more than how many panels will be installed and what the project costs. It should identify who prepares the connection application, secures each approval, coordinates with the OSB and bears expenditure if an approval is refused. It should also explain what happens if the capacity granted is lower than requested. Technical schedules should specify the major equipment, tests, performance measurement method and criteria for acceptance.
Rooftop contracts should address structural damage, leaks, fire and downtime during repairs. Ground mounted projects require provisions on soil conditions, drainage, cable routes, access and eventual removal. A production guarantee needs an intelligible method for treating grid outages, shading, abnormal weather and deficient maintenance. Without that method, a production shortfall may be difficult to attribute to either the contractor or the operating conditions.
Financing should be checked against the investor’s legal right to occupy the roof or land for the full project period. Security requested by a lender must be compared with OSB allocation conditions and lease terms. Ownership of the equipment, insurance proceeds, transfer rights and removal obligations should be described consistently in the finance, lease and EPC documents. Inconsistency may remain costly long after construction has finished.
Document refusals and project disputes
If a connection request is refused or an OSB declines to approve the proposed use, the investor should establish which body acted, in what capacity and on what stated grounds. A technical grid capacity decision and an OSB land use decision do not necessarily follow the same rules. Applications, deficiency notices, technical opinions, OSB decisions and dates of service should be assembled in chronological order before selecting a challenge or claim.
The same discipline is useful in contractor disputes. Approved drawings, variation instructions, site records, acceptance documents and measured production data help establish the cause of delay, defects or poor performance. Keeping those records from the beginning of the project protects rights during construction and throughout operation.
Assessment and Conclusion
A license exempt solar investment in a Turkish organized industrial zone cannot be completed through one general approval. The investor must identify the applicable generation category, linked consumption facility, right to use the site and competent network operator. Grid connection, electrical design, relevant planning and environmental procedures, and acceptance then need to be coordinated. Rooftop and ground mounted installations present different property and building risks.
The most consequential errors arise when investment commitments rely on unconfirmed grid capacity or an assumed right to use OSB land. Removal of the former 25 percent ground installation limit does not itself grant permission to build. Equally, a favorable connection decision does not replace the other approvals. Project documents should describe the same installation and follow one timetable with clear responsibility for every milestone.
Bektaş Hukuk Bürosu, led by Attorney Bahadır Bektaş, provides legal advice on OSB solar investments, including roof and parcel rights, permit planning, EPC and financing agreements, and disputes concerning OSB decisions or project performance. Reviewing the technical and legal documents together at the outset can help prevent permit delays and contractual losses after substantial funds have been committed.
