Turkey’s largest wind power plant to add battery storage

Aiming to lower balancing costs, Polat Enerji said it would integrate an energy storage system into its wind park Soma, the largest in Turkey. It will be the first grid-scale battery facility in the country.

Since giving priority in 2022 to wind and solar power projects that include energy storage with a matching capacity, Turkey registered a wave of investment proposals. In reality, though, batteries are expensive and still in short supply, on top of increasing costs substantially and adding engineering challenges.

But Turkey is also working on the establishment of a manufacturing base for the technology, like in the solar and wind power sectors. As the domestic market develops, operators of existing renewable electricity plants will come under pressure to expand them with batteries to remain competitive.

Polat Enerji, owner of the Soma wind power plant, the largest in Turkey, decided to add a small energy storage system to lower balancing costs. According to the contract that it signed with Partner EGS, the battery facility will have 4 MW in operating power and 4 MWh in capacity.

Huawei to supply battery equipment

Soma wind park, located in the provinces of Manisa and Balıkesir in Turkey’s west, has 288.1 MW. According to the update, it will be the country’s first big wind power plant with a battery facility, which in turn would be the first grid-scale system of its kind. Integrating two or more energy sources in power plant, or adding batteries, makes it a hybrid power plant.

The upgrade will also contribute to grid flexibility, Polat Enerji pointed out. Board member Neşet Özgür Cireli said the company has the largest wind capacity in Turkey. Partner EGS will purchase the equipment from Huawei.

Aksa Energy developing three major renewables projects with matching battery capacity

Investments in renewable electricity plants with batteries keep piling up. Aksa Yenilenebilir Enerji, a subsidiary of Aksa Energy, published plans for several major endeavors in the last few months. It is developing a project for a 141 MW wind park in Eskişehir in the northwest. It would be paired with an energy storage system of 141 MWh.

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson has said it is much more reasonable for wind power plants to add batteries with a capacity equivalent to 20% of the project than 100%

In the same province, Aksa intends to build a solar power plant of 50 MW with 50 MWh in lithium-ion batteries. The two segments of the Tokur hybrid power plant will span 75 hectares and 2.2 hectares, respectively. In addition, the utility is preparing to install a wind power plant of 111 MW with a lithium-ion battery energy storage system of 111 MWh. The location is in the provinces of Uşak and Afyonkarahisar.

Yakut Yenilenebilir Enerji is developing a 150 MW solar power project with storage in southeastern Turkey. It said the battery system would have 150 MW in operating power and 150 MWh in capacity. It means it can run for one hour at full power.

Speaking at the Turkish Wind Energy Congress in November, WindEurope’s Chief Executive Officer Giles Dickson advised against pushing to match wind power plants with 100% storage. He pointed out that no other country does it and claimed that 20% would be “much more reasonable.”

Hundreds of prelicensed projects for solar, wind power plants with batteries

Just before the end of December, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA or EPDK) said it prelicensed 439 projects for 25.6 GW proposed to be installed alongside solar and wind facilities.

Their combined value is estimated at USD 35 billion. Moreover, the government is preparing to introduce a 30% import tax for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells, modules and entire facilities.