A joint venture formed by Kalyon Enerji and Hanwha Q CELLS. has won the tender to build a 1.000 MW solar power plant in the Karapınar region in Turkey with the bid of 6.99 USD-cent per kWh. It is the conclusion to the tender for the biggest renewable energy project in Turkey’s history. According to the tender rules, this price will be valid for 15 years and companies have 30 years of usage rights. Also, all components that will be used in this project must be manufactured locally.
International Solar Energy Society’s – Turkey Division (GUNDER) President Kutay Kaleli made a statement after the tender. In his statement, he emphasised that this tender that was held under the Renewable Energy Resources Zone framework is one of the most important parts of the Turkish government’s goal of utilising local energy sources. Mr Kaleli said: ”First of all, we congratulate Kalyon Enerji and Hanwha Q CELLS who won the competition representing Turkey solar energy industry, for these important achievements. I have no doubt that this project, to which our Ministry attaches great importance, will be completed in the specified time-frame. With the conclusion of the competition, Turkey has already made the biggest step towards the establishment of solar energy investments, and more importantly, a domestic and national solar energy industry.
He added, “this project will create a significant leap point for the solar energy sector in Turkey thanks to the benefits such as technology transfer and qualified labour increase in the investment process and will accelerate the development of our country in this area of Konya, Karapınar. As a result of this competition, the price quotation for the 19th round was below the psychological limit of 7 USD-cents per kilowatt-hour at 6.99 cents. First of all, I would like to point out that the highest proportion of foreign partnerships among the bidders was the joint venture Kalyon – Hanhwa Q CELLS under a 50-50 percent partnership. Therefore, Turkey benefits from the highest entry of foreign capital in this 1.3 billion USD investment. This is good news for Turkey. Our 1 GW domestic solar power plant, which will be operating within 36 months at the latest and will have a domestic 500 MW factory that will be operational within 21 months at the latest. Also, this record low price in the tender was a new indicator that the solar power can compete with other sources of electricity generation. The fact that a plant of this scale, which could not yet be achieved in any other country in the world, will be built in Turkey together with the significant amount of foreign investment in high technology in Turkey indicate the degree of confidence in the future of the Turkish economy.”
As of the end of February 2017, Turkey’s solar power capacity was 899 MW. This capacity includes two licensed power plants with a total of 12.9 MW and other power plants operating under the unlicensed regulation.
GÜNDER, founded in 1991, was appointed to represent International Solar Energy Society – Turkey Section (ISES-TR) and is appointed to not only represent the Republic of Turkey in International Energy Agency Solar Heating Cooling Program (IEA SHC) and International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Program (IEA PVPS), but is also working actively in cooperation with SolarPower Europe (the new EPIA, European Photovoltaic Industry Association), European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), International Solar Energy Society (ISES), Global Solar Council (GSC), Association of Turkish Construction Material Producers (Türkiye IMSAD), Danish Green Growth Network (DGGN), Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA), German Solar Association (BSW), Turkish HVAC-R Exporters (ISIB), The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association (APVIA) through its memberships.
In addition, GÜNDER conducts studies of popularising the manufacture and applications of solar energy systems and creates value by participating in national and international projects. By organising industry development and information meetings, various training, seminars, workshops, conferences (SOLARTR) and similar activities or by participating in or making a contribution other industry events. It wants to increase the solar energy awareness and to develop the industry strongly, with its efforts in developing legislation. It also conducts the international promotional activities of Turkish Solar Energy Industry and it develops export-focused international collaborations.