Türkiye: the KOSGEB digital-transformation loan, VAP, and the ISO 50001 gate

Two of the KOSGEB programmes Turkish consultants still quote have been repealed. The live digitalisation route is not a grant at all: it is a loan on which KOSGEB pays the interest.

Correct this first: two programmes that no longer exist

The two KOSGEB programmes quoted most often on Turkish consultant and vendor pages are both filed by KOSGEB under Yürürlükten Kaldırılan Destekler, repealed supports. Neither is on the active support index read on 22 September 2026.

• İşletme Geliştirme Destek Programı (İGDP). It carried the line items a monitoring project was usually built on: Model Fabrika participation up to 100,000 TL at 60%, Dijital Dönüşüm Danışmanlığı up to 20,000 TL at 100%, an energy-efficient motor item of 80,000 TL. Those went away with the programme.
• KOBİ Teknoyatırım. Grant plus repayable loan, 60% on machinery and software, 2,000,000 TL for low and mid-low technology, 10,000,000 TL for mid-high and high. Latest rules 11 May 2023. Repealed.

If a proposal quotes either for a 2026 project, it was written against a superseded catalogue. The live route is a subsidised loan, not a grant, which changes the internal approval path: it goes through treasury as well as capex.

KOBİ Dijital Dönüşüm Destek Programı

This is the live digitalisation instrument. KOSGEB pays the interest on a partner-bank credit, non-repayably; the principal remains the company's. Partner banks named on the programme page are TEB, İş Bankası and Yapı Kredi. The programme is EBRD-funded, at EUR 300 million stated in the launch announcement of 30 April 2024 (the source's own currency). The application form carries a revision date of 11 May 2026.

• Who: NACE Section C, manufacturing only. Micro enterprises are excluded. SME status, active KOSGEB registration and a current KOBİ beyannamesi.
• Financial tests: positive equity in the last fiscal year, and positive operating profit in at least one of the last three.
• What it funds: machinery, equipment, software and hardware. New items only.
• Amount: credit of 1,000,000 to 20,000,000 TL per enterprise; term up to 36 months, optional 6-month grace; programme period 24 months.
• Excluded activities follow the EBRD's Unsuitable Sectors and Activities list.

Model Fabrika: channel and gatekeeper

The Yetkinlik ve Dijital Dönüşüm Merkezleri, commonly called Model Fabrika, are run by the Ministry of Industry and Technology with the chambers. Twelve are in operation, with a target of 16 by the end of 2027, per a statement by Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır reported on 28 July 2026. That is a press reproduction; the Ministry's own page could not be retrieved.

Services on the Ankara centre's own site include Öğren & Dönüş (learn on a live line, then apply it in your own plant with coaching), YODA lean maturity assessment and DDX+, a maturity evaluation with a roadmap and pilot implementations. The site does not mention OEE or shop-floor data acquisition by name.

TÜSSİDE runs DDX, and DDX is one of the two accepted models for the KOSGEB loan. The model factories are both the demand channel and the gate.

VAP: 30%, capped at 15,000,000 TL, with conditions

Verimlilik Artırıcı Proje (VAP) is the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources line for energy-efficiency projects. Madde 16 of the Yönetmelik sets it plainly: projects are supported at up to 30% of cost, not exceeding 15,000,000 TL. A separate line supports applicants that reduce energy or carbon intensity, or specific energy consumption, at up to 30% of that year's energy expenditure, not exceeding 10,000,000 TL.

• The applicant must be registered in EVDES, have an appointed energy manager under Article 9, meet the Article 32 information duty, and hold a TS EN ISO 50001 certificate.
• The rate is applied excluding VAT. The annual maximum, the Azami Destek Miktarı, is set in each year's call within the 15,000,000 TL legal cap.
• There is no fixed annual window. Article 6 allows the Başkanlık to take no applications at all, or to take them in one or several periods a year, or continuously.
• The Ministry of Industry's support portal states a minimum instantaneous saving of 150 kW per project for industry and energy-sector applicants, 50 kW elsewhere; the Usul ve Esaslar leaves the threshold to each call.

The ISO 50001 duty above 1,000 TEP is the real hook

Türkiye's energy-management obligation bites lower than most EU equivalents, and at the same threshold as the energy-manager duty.

Verimlilik Yönetmeliği, consolidated text read 22 September 2026; latest amendment RG-21/9/2024-32669.

Madde 8(2) requires certification through bodies accredited by TÜRKAK. There is no separate, higher EnMS threshold as in several EU states: an industrial enterprise over 1,000 TEP a year owes both a certified energy manager and a TS EN ISO 50001 certificate. At the standard 11,630 kWh per TEP that is roughly 11.63 GWh a year, a mid-sized plant rather than a giant. The conversion is ours; the Yönetmelik uses TEP only.

The obligation and the money are welded together. VAP requires the certificate and the named energy manager, so a plant over threshold and non-compliant cannot apply for the 30% and 15,000,000 TL support. A compliant plant has an EnPI and baseline structure that needs sub-metered, machine-level data: monthly utility invoices cannot be normalised by output; machine-level data can.

TÜBİTAK 1501 and 1507 fund developing technology, not buying it

A common and expensive confusion. 1501 and 1507 fund the development of a product or process technology, not the purchase of an off-the-shelf system. They fit a manufacturer building its own capability, or a local integrator developing on top of a platform.

• 1501 Sanayi Ar-Ge: 75% for the first five supported projects, 60% from the sixth; TÜBİTAK contribution up to 20,000,000 TL per project; 24 months, extendable to 36. The 2026-2 call closes 26 October 2026, pre-registration 22 October, through PRODİS.
• The 2026-2 call text restricts 1501 applicants to SMEs, against the long-standing framing of 1501 as the large-firm programme. Quote the call text, not the reputation.
• 1507 KOBİ Ar-Ge Başlangıç: SME-only, capital companies only. 75%, project budget up to 3,000,000 TL, up to 18 months. Those three figures are from the programme page, not the 2026 call text. 2026-2 applications 9 to 11 November 2026.
• Maximum two proposals per organisation per call period across 1501 and 1507.

The Turkish routes side by side

Sources: KOSGEB programme pages, the Verimlilik Yönetmeliği on mevzuat.gov.tr, and TÜBİTAK call documents, as dated in the status box. TRY as published, no EUR conversion.

These reference sites are published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which sells production-monitoring and OEE software. That is a commercial interest and it is stated once. A Turkish plant with one problem line does not need a platform to find out what is wrong with it; a month of coded stop logging and a sub-meter will say most of it, and a local integrator may deliver the rest more cheaply than any vendor.

• All Western Europe programmes compared
• Nordics: Energiatuki, Erhvervspuljen and Sweden's gap
• Italy: Transizione 5.0 is closed, Sabatini is not
• Net cost after grant or tax credit

Questions

Is the KOSGEB digital-transformation support a grant?

No. It is a partner-bank credit of 1,000,000 to 20,000,000 TL on which KOSGEB pays the interest, non-repayably. The principal is repaid by the company, over a maximum term of 36 months with an optional 6-month grace period.

What is the DDX or SIRI report, and is it optional?

It is a digital-transformation maturity assessment and it is mandatory before financing. The application form requires one of two models: TÜSSİDE's DDX or MEXT's SIRI. İHKİB is also named as an authorised assessor. The assessment produces the roadmap the loan funds.

Which Turkish factories must hold ISO 50001?

Under Madde 8(2) of the Verimlilik Yönetmeliği, every organisation that owes an energy manager or an energy management unit must establish and certify TS EN ISO 50001 through a TÜRKAK-accredited body. For an industrial enterprise the energy-manager threshold is 1,000 TEP of total annual energy consumption.

How much does VAP pay, and what does it require?

Up to 30% of project cost, capped at 15,000,000 TL under Madde 16, VAT excluded. The applicant must be registered in EVDES, have an appointed energy manager, meet the Article 32 information duty, and hold a TS EN ISO 50001 certificate. There is no fixed annual window, and the 2026 call window could not be verified.

Can TÜBİTAK 1501 or 1507 pay for a monitoring system?

Not for buying one. Both programmes fund the development of a product or process technology, not the purchase of an off-the-shelf system. They fit a manufacturer building its own capability or an integrator developing on top of a platform.

Sources

1. KOSGEB - support index (read 22 September 2026)
2. KOSGEB - KOBİ Dijital Dönüşüm Destek Programı
3. KOSGEB - launch announcement, 20 million TL financing (30 April 2024)
4. mevzuat.gov.tr - Enerji Kaynaklarının ve Enerjinin Kullanımında Verimliliğin Artırılmasına Dair Yönetmelik
5. Enerji Bakanlığı - VAP Destek Programı Uygulama Usul ve Esasları (PDF)
6. yatirimadestek.gov.tr - VAP support programme, minimum saving thresholds (update 9 May 2025)
7. TÜBİTAK - 1501 and 1507 2026-2 call announcement (20 July 2026)
8. TÜBİTAK - 1507 SME R&D Start Support Program (programme page)
9. Model Fabrika (Ankara centre, read 22 September 2026)
10. Resmî Gazete - Tebliğ 2025/1, Yatırımlarda Devlet Yardımları (21 June 2025)

Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which makes production-monitoring and OEE software. Every figure is sourced on the page. Funding rules, standards and reporting duties change: check the official documents before you budget or commit.