Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) has given the go-ahead for the privatization of the country’s 20 electricity distribution grids by approving the tariff structure, an EPDK official said last Friday. Approval of the electricity tariffs is the final step before Turkey can invite tenders to auction the distribution grids as part of a World Bank-supported plan to liberalize its electricity market. The EPDK approved license applications for the grids last month. The government aims to liberalize the electricity market through the sale of distribution grids and by switching to a system of regional tariffs. Tariffs take into account the investment required in the 20 grids over the next five years, volumes of leakage and theft, payments for transfer of operational rights, revenues and retail tariffs. The tenders, to be held for a group of grids rather than for each network to achieve economies of scale and more efficient operation, have been delayed since March 2005 due to slow progress on preparing the appropriate legal infrastructure.