A consortium comprising South Korean photovoltaic (PV) solar cells manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS and Turkish firm Kalyon Enerji Yatirimlari has been awarded a tender to develop a 1GW solarpower plant in Turkey.

Named Karapinar Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Alani (Karapinar YEKA), the project will be located in Karapinar, which is 250km south of Ankara and the capital of the Republic of Turkey.

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Hanwha Q CELLS' chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Seong-Woo Nam said: “We are excited to be a part of this historic milestone energy project in Turkey and the region.

“We will bring our leading technology and operations expertise to bring environmentally sustainable energy solutions to Turkey and to support the Turkish Government's aim to be energy independent.”

Once completed, the solar facility will have a total installed power generation capacity of 1,000MW alternating current (AC).

"This is a big step towards reducing the external energy dependency on which the ministry has been focusing over the past year."

Expected to begin operations within the next 36 months, the Karapinar YEKA project will produce enough solarpower to provide electricity to more than 600,000 Turkish homes.

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Kalyon Energy Group's president Dr Murtaza Ata said: “This is a big step towards reducing the external energy dependency on which the ministry has been focusing over the past year.

“With this project, Turkey's external energy dependency will decrease. This project shall also open an opportunity window to extend solar business beyond our borders since Turkey has a significant geographical importance due to its close proximity to the Middle East and North Africa, where solarpower potential is quite significant.”

The consortium will also set up 500MW of fully-integrated PV manufacturing capacity locally in Turkey.

This facility is scheduled to be operational within next 21 months.

Image: Solar panels. Photo: courtesy of Debbie Mous / Freeimages.com.

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