Kalyon-Hanwha consortium set to build first solar panel factory in Turkey

A consortium composed of Turkish Kalyon and South Korean Hanwha is set to build the first solar panel factory in Turkey. The factory will be built in an industrial zone in Ankara.

In March, Kalyon-Hanhwa consortium won a tender for construction of 1 GW solar power plant under the Renewable Energy Resource Area (YEKA) scheme in Karapinar province in the Central Anatolia. The tender announced last October specified that the equipment must be produced locally.

Kalyon Holding Energy Group President Murtaza Ata said that the initial production capacity of the plant will be 500 MW, but that the plan is to raise its capacity gradually to 1,000 MW, the Anadolu Agency Energy News Terminal reported.

Ata announced that a foundation stone laying ceremony will likely to take place in November, and that the production in the factory should start by the end of 2018.

The investment is worth around USD 450 million. The factory will be built in the Ankara Organized Industry Zone, and composed of three separate unites – for the production of ingot and wafer, for the production of solar cell and production of solar panels.

Production in Karapinar solar power plant to start in 2019

Ata announced that the production of the electricity in Karapinar solar power plant should begin in the first quarter of 2019.

According to Turkish officials, the solar plant will provide electricity to cover consumption needs of more than 600,000 households.

The plant to produce PV panels for Karapinar YEKA solar power plant, should be built within the period of 21 months from the moment the tender agreement is signed while electricity production is expected to start within the period of 36 months from the moment the PV panels plant is completed.

Another tender condition was that research and development department  employ 100 people as technical staff, that local engineers constitute 80 percent of all employees on this project, and that this department must be active for at least next 10 years.

Electricity produced in this 1 GW solar plant will be sold at the guaranteed price for next 15 years.