Theocharis Grigoriadis

In the project “German-style Energy Transitions: Wind Energy & Development in Turkey,” I propose a multifaceted and interdisciplinary analysis of energy transitions and socio-economic performance in Turkey. Wind energy has been a central component of the transformation of Turkey’s electrical power sector and has been developed within the regulatory framework of the YEKA (Renewable Energy Resource Areas) auction model. Using a difference-in-difference empirical design, I evaluate the socio-economic effects of the two YEKA tenders on wind energy in different regions of Turkey. First, I measure the effects of the first YEKA tender won by the German-Turkish consortium Siemens-Türkerler-Kalyon, which implemented Turkey’s first wind energy transition in the regions of Thrace, Ankara, and central Turkey. Second, I measure the effects of the second YEKA tender that was won by Enerjisa, a Turkish company of which 50 percent is owned by German energy leader E.ON, and Enercon, a German company specializing in wind energy infrastructure. The regional focus of the second YEKA tender covers primarily the Aegean as well as Marmara districts of Turkey. In addition to causal inference methods, I introduce matching and advanced simulation techniques to evaluate the environmental effects of windmill location given available wind mapping data. Analyzed socio-economic outcomes include regional and local income, overall life expectancy, infant mortality rates, school attendance, and the share of secondary education graduates.