New wind farm in Turkey (120 MW)

The wind turbines plant would provide energy for 25,000 people when it functions in full capacity, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said Saturday as he joined the opening ceremony of the windfarm in the mountainous region of Mut, in the province of Mersin. The wind energy plant currently generates electricity for 12,000 people.

The Aðaoðlu Group, a Turkish firm with investments in wind energy facilities and residential projects, built the Mut wind farm.

At the same time, the company also held a ground-breaking ceremony at the Þah wind power plant, which will generate 93 megawatts and provide electricity for 130,000 people in Bandýrma, a district in the northwestern district of Balýkesir. The Þah wind power plant is expected to start generating electricity by December this year.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the wind power plant in Mersin, Ali Aðaoðlu, board chairman of the Aðaoðlu Group, said with the investments in Bandýrma and Mersin, the group would supply nearly 10 percent of Turkey’s wind energy.

With the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the wind power plant in Mersin has started generating 33 megawatts annually which will be increased to 120 megawatts by next year, according to Aðaoðlu.

The company finished the Mut facility in only six months, a project that would have taken 1.5 years under normal conditions, said Aðaoðlu, who spoke to journalists after the ceremony.

Solar power

The company will also invest in solar energy Aðaoðlu told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “Unfortunately, generating electricity from the solar power plants is still considerably expensive since any investment would only reimburse itself after almost 20 years.”

The government should either provide a purchase guarantee or grant incentives for the entrepreneurs to invest in solar power plants, he said.

Source: Hürriyet Daily News, www.hurriyetdailynews.com