EPDK enacts rules on unlicenced generation, storage and SCADA

Türkiye's energy market regulator, EPDK, has brought into force a comprehensive regulatory package altering the rules for unlicenced electricity generation, co-located energy storage, and network telemetry. Among the core modifications is the introduction of a 900 kW threshold for unlicenced installations, alongside dedicated rules for storage integration and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. The framework establishes a staggered schedule for implementation, requiring generation developers and distribution companies to align grid-connection procedures with new operational benchmarks.

For engineers managing transformers and distribution substations, the reform addresses long-standing challenges surrounding the visibility of distributed energy. Connecting assets up to the 900 kW capacity level alters feeder utilisation and reverse power flows through distribution transformers. When generation is combined with storage systems, bidirectional energy flow subjects distribution step-up transformers to unusual cyclic thermal stresses, requiring careful monitoring of winding temperatures and tap-changer operations.

The SCADA provisions represent a substantial operational shift for unlicenced facilities. Historically, smaller plants frequently connected with minimal remote communication, leaving distribution control rooms blind to local generation surges and feeder voltage fluctuations. Enforcing SCADA connectivity requires plant operators to install remote terminal units, compatible communication protocols, and synchronised digital protection at plant substations. Substation designers must now incorporate automated control interfaces, power quality transducers, and remote disconnect facilities at the point of common coupling.

What this means for asset owners in Türkiye: asset managers and industrial developers in Türkiye must urgently audit switchgear cubicles and remote terminal units at sites approaching or exceeding the 900 kW mark to secure grid compliance. Operating without compliant SCADA interfacing risks forced disconnection or prolonged energisation delays from regional distribution network operators. Procurement teams must plan for extended switchgear and control panel lead times to ensure remote monitoring hardware is fully commissioned ahead of the regulator's enforcement milestones.