Boosting Energy Efficiency in Turkey: The Role of Public-Private Partnership Investment

Abstract

This study draws motivation from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (7.8.11), which highlight pertinent issues across the globe, among which are access to energy, responsible consumption, and sustainable development. To this end, we explored the pivotal role of public-private partnerships (PPP) investment in energy in Turkey, which is currently on an aggressive trajectory for its energy mix to energy efficiency. To avoid omitted variable bias in econometric strategies, we controlled for vital macroeconomic indicators such as foreign direct investment (FDI), trade flow, and economic growth. Empirical results showed a long-run equilibrium relationship between the outlined variables as traced by the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test. Subsequently, we observed a positive relationship between public-private partnership (PPP) investment in energy and the country's energy intensification in both the short and long runs. A similar trend was observed between FDI, GDP growth, and energy intensity. These outcomes have inherent policy caveats for the Turkish energy sector and economic trajectory. Policy implications include efficient investment in clean energy (renewables) as part of Turkey's effort toward energy intensification to guarantee sustainable development. Additionally, the involvement of PPP is a welcome dimension for sustainable economic growth. Further insights are documented in the concluding remarks.