The joint German-Turkish partnership by Borusan EnBW Enerji and Siemens Wind Power has closed contracts for the supply, installation and maintenance of 22 Siemens SWT 2.3-108 wind turbines. A day later, Baden-Württemberg‘s environment minister Franz Untersteller and the Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz announced the official start for the Balabanli wind farm within the framework of a ceremony held in Istanbul. The 22 turbines, each with a capacity of 2.3 MW and a rotor diameter of 108 m, are expected to generate approx. 149 GWh of electricity a year as of the end of 2014. The 50 MW license for the wind farm in the northwest of Turkey, and thus very close to Istanbul, was won by Borusan EnBW Enerji last year.
Borusan EnBW Enerji, with its headquarters in Istanbul, was set up in the summer of 2009 as a joint venture between the German company EnBW and the Turkish company Borusan. The aim of the joint venture is to build up generating capacity in Turkey over the next few years, mainly in the field of renewable energy. The joint venture already has a power plant portfolio with a total capacity of 160 MW, with the Yedigöl Aksu hydropower plant and the Bandirma wind farm together contributing 111 MW of this as green electricity.
“Borusan believes in Turkey’s strong potential in the energy sector, especially in the field of renewable energies, and is convinced that through its activities in this sector it can create added value towards the sustainable growth of Turkey,” says Agah Ugur, CEO of Borusan. “We aim to own installed capacities of 2,000 MW as of 2020, most of which will consist of renewable energy sources,” he continues.
Borusan is currently working on five further wind power projects with a capacity of 318 MW. These are still being developed in order to be taken up at the investment stage. Also for Siemens, “the Turkish wind power market is an attractive one and we expect it to grow in the future,” says Felix Ferlemann, CEO of the Wind Power Division at Siemens Energy.
Katharina Garus
Photovoltaic Feed