Turkish geothermal-heated greenhouse firm wants to beat Netherlands in food exports

Istanbul-based firm Yediyol completed the first phase of its geothermal-heated greenhouse project of an overall 100 hectares. It vowed to “shake the Netherlands’ throne in agricultural exports.” At the same time, OET, a startup in neighboring Greece, is making greenhouses equipped with flexible and semitransparent solar panels.

Turkey is a superforce when it comes to geothermal energy and renewables overall. For instance, at the end of 2023 it hosted geothermal power plants with just under 1.7 GW in total capacity. On the other hand, the capacity was almost unchanged from one year before, when it was bigger than the rest of Europe combined. On the world chart, Turkey trails only the United States and Indonesia. The country also increasingly relies on geothermal-heated greenhouses.

Agrotermal, a subsidiary of Yediyol Holding from Istanbul, planted all the seedlings in its new facility on five hectares. It is part of a geothermal-heated greenhouse project of 100 hectares in total. The site is in the Konya Tuzlukçu district in central Turkey.

The existing greenhouse is set to employ one thousand workers, of which almost all will be women. Water consumption is minimal, according to the developer.

Geothermal-heated greenhouses to make Konya Tuzlukçu main agricultural exports hub

District Governor Eyyüp Tuğ inaugurated the facility with local officials and Yediyol’s representatives, who all planted the first seedlings. He expressed confidence that the area will become the center of the world in agricultural exports and contribute to regional development.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yediyol Holding Muhammet Şuheyp Mendi vowed to “shake the Netherlands’ throne in agricultural exports” with the investment. He said the company wants to make Konya Tuzlukçu the geothermal-heated greenhouse center of the world. One of the largest solar power plants on the planet is also located in the Konya province.

Yediyol was founded in 1998. It also heats homes, workplaces and hotels using geothermal energy.

Greece-based OET makes greenhouses with semitransparent, flexible solar panels

That’s not the ultimate synergy between renewables and greenhouses, or agriculture overall, for that matter. On the other side of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara, Organic Electronic Technologies or OET presented the model of its greenhouse at the Agrotica 2024 fair in Thessaloniki.

The facility is equipped with the startup’s third-generation organic, translucent and flexible photovoltaics. The modules weigh less than 500 grams per square meter and are easily installed, the Greek firm said.