Renewable energy is gradually making its way through many countries as it is being considered as one of the safest and less polluting forms of energy. It is seen that many countries are moving towards its use and today Turkey witnessed an opening of the first integrated solar panel manufacturing facility which promises to place the country among leading renewable energy nations.
The major solar ingot-wafer-module-cell production factory facility opening which saw the President of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attending was established in the capital Ankara’s Başkent Organized Industrial Zone in the country.
The President of Turkey in his speech said that,
“The facility, which will be implemented through an investment of $400 million and will employ 1,400 people, will place Turkey among leading nations in the renewable energy area.”
The facility will be manufacturing solar panels with a capacity of 500 megawatts per year and prevent millions of dollars of imports.
Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak also in his speech at the ceremony expressed beliefs that the country will move forward in other technology areas adding that
“Turkey has come to a position where it manufactures technology in renewable energy.”
He also said that the facility holds a significant place in Turkey’s national energy policy. Two-thirds of the country’s electricity generation is derived from domestic and renewable resources.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Fatih Dönmez in his speech also said,
“The factory will add to the dynamism of the renewable energy industry,”
Turkey’s electricity generation from domestic and renewable resources reached 90% on May 24.”
The Facilty
Implemented with an investment of around $400 million, Kalyon Group’s facility will produce components for Turkey’s biggest solar power plant, which will be established in the Karapınar district of the central Anatolian province of Konya as part of the first solar Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) tender with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts.
Kalyon Holding, together with a South Korean Hanwha Q-Cells consortium, won the tender for Turkey’s biggest solar power plant project, the Karapınar Renewable Energy Resources Zone Project in March 2017 at a cost of $0.0699 per kilowatt-hour. However, Hanwha will not continue with the project and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) has stepped in to construct the facility and to provide additional two years of technical assistance after the Turkey contract expires.
Under the tender rules, solar components are to be produced locally, and the tender also stipulates that local engineers should constitute 80% of the project’s workforce.
The construction of the module cell factory to produce four units ingot, wafer, module and cell, was inaugurated at a ground breaking ceremony in December 2017.
The plant, which will be manufacturing solar panels with a capacity of 500 megawatts per year, will provide employment to around 1,400 people. The plant is also expected to have a significant contribution to reducing the country’s trade deficit as it is said to prevent $100 million worth of solar panel imports per year.
The components produced at the facility will be used for Karapinar YEKA in the first three years of operations, after which the Turkish company might explore supplies to other local projects and international markets.
The country plans to boost its wind and solar capacity by 10,000 MW each year over the coming decade through YEKA.
