If you run a manufacturing plant in Türkiye, or you audit Turkish suppliers for an EU buyer, the Turkey energy efficiency law you need to know is Law No. 5627 on Energy Efficiency. It was published in the Official Gazette on 2 May 2007 and turned energy management into a legal duty for large industrial sites and buildings. Most operational rules sit in its implementing regulation, the “Regulation on Increasing Efficiency in the Use of Energy Resources and Energy”.
This guide answers three questions for plant managers and compliance teams at foreign-owned operations: are we in scope, what must we do and by when, and what happens if we don’t?
Disclaimer: this article is for information only and is not legal advice. Turkish legislation is amended frequently; always check the current consolidated text of the Law and the Regulation on mevzuat.gov.tr and the announcements of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources before acting.
Purpose and Scope of Law No. 5627
Article 1 targets efficient energy use, less waste, lower energy costs for the economy and environmental protection. Article 2 covers generation through end use across industry, buildings, power plants, transport, agriculture and services.
For an operating company, the binding provisions fall into three groups:
- Energy management (Law Art. 7(1)(a)): appointing an energy manager and, above a certain size, setting up an energy management unit.
- Monitoring and reporting (Art. 7(1)(b)): submitting energy consumption information to the Ministry by the end of March each year and allowing on-site inspection.
- Audits and measurement (Art. 7(1)(g) and Regulation Art. 10): periodic energy audits, performed with instruments calibrated and labelled by accredited bodies.
Energy performance certificates for buildings also derive from this law; we cover that side in our guide to Türkiye’s Building Energy Performance Regulation.
Who Is in Scope? The Thresholds
Scope is measured in TOE (tonnes of oil equivalent, “TEP” in Turkish) of total annual energy consumption. All carriers are converted to TOE with the Ministry’s published methodology and summed. As a rough reference, 1 TOE is 10 million kcal (about 11.63 MWh thermal), but formal determination must use the Ministry’s factors, which may differ from your group’s reporting factors.
Article 9 of the Regulation sets the thresholds:
- Industrial facilities: at 1,000 TOE/year or more, each facility must appoint a certified energy manager from its own employees.
- Large industrial facilities: private-sector facilities at 50,000 TOE/year or more must also establish an energy management unit.
- Commercial and service buildings: total construction area of at least 20,000 m² or annual consumption of 500 TOE or more.
- Public-sector buildings: at least 10,000 m² or 250 TOE or more.
- Organised industrial zones (OIZs): zones with at least 50 operating companies must set up an energy management unit to support tenants below 1,000 TOE.
Note that the building test is “or”, not “and”: a 25,000 m² logistics or office campus is in scope even if it consumes well under 500 TOE. Floor areas of buildings on one campus are added together.
How the scope test works in practice
The annual determination uses the average consumption of the last three years. For a new site whose first-year consumption exceeds twice the threshold, obligations apply immediately. Tracking your status is management’s responsibility; not being notified by the Ministry is no defence.
A ramping-up greenfield plant or a site near 1,000 TOE should therefore track consumption by carrier all year, not reconstruct it from invoices. Our line-by-line guide to industrial electricity bills in Türkiye helps with reading the invoice side.
Obligations by Facility Type
| Facility type | Threshold | Energy manager / unit | Mandatory energy audit | Annual declaration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial facility | ≥ 1,000 TOE/yr | Certified energy manager (own employee) | Every 4 years | By 31 March |
| Large industrial facility (private sector) | ≥ 50,000 TOE/yr | Energy manager + energy management unit | Every 4 years | By 31 March |
| Commercial / service building | ≥ 20,000 m² or ≥ 500 TOE/yr | Energy manager (employee or contracted) | Every 7 years | By 31 March |
| Public-sector building | ≥ 10,000 m² or ≥ 250 TOE/yr | Energy manager (employee or contracted) | Every 7 years | By 31 March |
| Organised industrial zone | ≥ 50 operating companies | Energy management unit | — | By 31 March |
Also note Article 8(2) of the Regulation requires industrial facilities, buildings and power plants that must appoint an energy manager or set up an energy management unit to implement and certify TS EN ISO 50001 through bodies accredited by TÜRKAK, the Turkish accreditation agency. If your group holds a multi-site certificate, confirm the Turkish site and certification body meet this. Our article on how to get ISO 50001 certification covers the process and cost drivers.
The Energy Manager Requirement
In-scope industrial facilities must appoint the energy manager from their own staff, and that person may not act as energy manager for any other industrial facility. Buildings that cannot appoint internally may contract a certified energy manager or an authorised company.
Two deadlines matter:
- The appointed energy manager’s details are notified to the Ministry. Facilities newly identified as obligated have 60 calendar days.
- If the energy manager leaves, the departure must be reported within 15 working days, and a replacement appointed and notified within 60 calendar days.
The role itself, certification route and day-to-day tasks are covered in what does an energy manager do. The point to note here is that the Regulation explicitly lists among the energy manager’s duties monitoring consumption and costs, procuring meters and measuring instruments and keeping them calibrated, and tracking specific energy consumption.
Mandatory Energy Audits
Under Regulation Article 10, industrial facilities at 1,000 TOE or more and in-scope commercial, service and public buildings must commission an energy audit from an authorised company or do it in-house with staff holding the relevant audit-project certificate.
- Cycle: every 4 years for industrial facilities and every 7 years for buildings.
- First audit: new industrial facilities in the 4th year after chamber of industry/commerce registration; new buildings in the 7th year after the occupancy permit.
- Reporting: the final audit report goes to the Ministry by the end of March of the year following the audit.
- Instrument requirement: Law Article 7(1)(g) requires audit measurements to use instruments calibrated and labelled by accredited national or international bodies.
See our energy audit guide for industrial facilities. An audit is a four-yearly snapshot; for tracking whether measures deliver in between, see which data to monitor continuously after an energy audit.
Annual Energy Consumption Declaration: 31 March
Every entity obliged to appoint an energy manager or set up an energy management unit must submit consumption data by the end of March each year (Regulation Art. 9/A). Declarations are filed through the Energy Efficiency Portal (ENVER), accessed via Türkiye’s e-Government gateway, with the previous year’s data entered between 1 January and 31 March.
Many sites fill in the per-carrier form in March by summing twelve months of invoices. That gives a total but not which line or process consumed what. Given the Ministry’s inspection powers, backing declared figures with metered records is a real advantage, and the same dataset answers the energy questions in EU customers’ supplier questionnaires.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Administrative sanctions are set out in Article 10 of the Law. The mechanism:
- Breach of energy management obligations (Art. 10(1)(a)(8)): the facility, building owner or building management first receives a formal warning. If the breach is not remedied within 30 days, a fine is imposed.
- Failure to provide requested information (Art. 10(1)(a)(2)): after a 30-day period, incorrect or incomplete information triggers a lower fine; providing nothing or refusing inspection a higher one.
- Repeat offences: repeating the same act within one year of a fine doubles the amount.
- Cap: fines under (2), (3) and (8) are limited to the lower of 20% of prior-year energy spend or 5% of balance-sheet revenue, if documents are submitted within 30 days.
Amounts are revalued yearly by Ministry communiqué. Per the communiqué in the Official Gazette of 31 December 2025, 2026 amounts are:
| Law Art. 10(1)(a) | Breach | 2026 amount (TRY) |
|---|---|---|
| (2) | Requested information incorrect or incomplete | 324,273 |
| (2) | No information provided / on-site inspection refused | 1,621,847 |
| (3) | Other information not provided correctly within 30 days | 16,106 |
| (8) | Energy management breach not remedied within 30 days of warning | 648,635 |
For 2027 onwards, check the Ministry’s new communiqué.
Incentives: Efficiency Projects and Intensity Reduction
The incentives article (Art. 8) was rewritten by Law No. 7501 on 2 May 2024, and the Regulation’s support provisions were aligned on 21 September 2024. The current framework offers two main instruments:
- Efficiency improvement projects (VAP): up to 30% of project cost, capped at a statutory base of TRY 15 million, as a grant or interest subsidy.
- Energy or carbon intensity reduction: applicants that reduce energy and/or carbon intensity or specific energy consumption against the Ministry’s criteria can receive up to 30% of the reference year’s energy cost, capped at a statutory base of TRY 10 million.
Both caps are revalued annually. Criteria and application windows are announced as support programmes. Applicants must provide measurement conditions during on-site inspection; misleading information leads to repayment and a two-year application ban.
Why Measured Data Makes Compliance Easier
Every obligation above depends on verifiable consumption data.
- Scope test: a three-year TOE average is guesswork without per-carrier records.
- 31 March declaration: monthly reports exported from a system are faster and more defensible than invoice reconstruction.
- Energy audit: months of sub-metered data beat a few weeks of portable logging.
- ISO 50001: baselines and performance indicators need continuous measurement.
- Incentives: measuring before and after under comparable conditions is the basis of savings verification.
An energy monitoring system collects electricity, natural gas, water, steam and compressed air consumption per line and process on the same timeline as production data. Atasayın’s ATS Energy Monitoring System combines energy analyser, flow meter and AV Sens compressed air data on one platform, giving the energy manager a ready dataset for declarations, audits and savings verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who does Türkiye’s Energy Efficiency Law No. 5627 apply to?
Direct obligations fall mainly on industrial facilities consuming 1,000 TOE per year or more, commercial and service buildings of 20,000 m² or 500 TOE and above, public buildings of 10,000 m² or 250 TOE and above, power plants, and organised industrial zones with at least 50 operating companies.
Does a foreign-owned plant in Türkiye need its own energy manager?
Yes, if the facility consumes 1,000 TOE per year or more. The energy manager must be a certified employee of that facility; a group-level or overseas manager does not satisfy the requirement.
How often is an energy audit required?
Every 4 years for industrial facilities and every 7 years for buildings. The final report is due by the end of March of the following year.
When and where is the annual energy consumption declaration filed?
Obligated entities submit the previous year’s energy consumption data to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources by 31 March each year, through the Energy Efficiency Portal (ENVER), accessed via Türkiye’s e-Government gateway.
What are the penalties under Law 5627?
Penalties are set in Article 10 and revalued annually. For 2026, failing to remedy an energy management breach within 30 days of a warning costs TRY 648,635, and providing no requested information or refusing inspection costs TRY 1,621,847. Repeating the same breach within one year doubles the fine.
Is ISO 50001 mandatory in Türkiye?
For facilities and buildings that must appoint an energy manager or set up an energy management unit, the implementing regulation requires TS EN ISO 50001 to be implemented and certified through TÜRKAK-accredited bodies.
Conclusion
Compliance boils down to a calendar: re-check scope yearly, appoint and notify the energy manager, declare by 31 March, renew the audit every 4 or 7 years and keep ISO 50001 current. Each step is easier and less risky with continuous metering.
Let’s work out which points in your facility should be measured to support your Law 5627 declarations, audits and savings verification. Contact us.