The biggest solar power plant in Turkey to be built by Turkish – South Korean consortium

Solar power plant of 1 GW will be installed in Karapınar Renewable Energy Resource Area (YEKA). The tender bid was won by Kalyon-Hanwha group consortium, offering the lowest price of EUR 0,0699 per kWh. Total value of this project is USD 1.3 billion.

There were 4 consortiums competing in the tender bid for a solar power plant: Limak-CMEC-Hareon Solar, Çalık Enerji-Solargiga, AKC and Güneş, and Kalyon-Hanwha Group, the last one being the final winner. Karapinar YEKA will be built in Karapınar Energy Specialized Industrial Zone which is a property of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

Tender defined price cap at EUR 0.08 per kWh. First offer by Limak-CMEC-Hareon Solar was EUR 0.08, while the first offer of Kalyon-Hanwha group was EUR 0.0795. AKC and Güneş offered EUR 0.0798 and Çalık Enerji-Solargiga 7,99. After AKC and Güneş withdrew in round 19, Kalyon-Hanwha offered the lowest price of EUR 0.0699 per kWh. Previously, in round 18, AKC and Güneş offered EUR 0.0705 per kWh.

Investor’s obligation: domestic workforce and equipment

The tender announced last October specified that the equipment must be produced locally. The tender also clearly defined other project’s milestones: 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 being 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% 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.

Solar energy is great opportunity for Turkish economy

In  his addressing to tender participants and media, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak said: “Today we are witnessing a revolution in the Turkey’s energy sector”. He added that this project will pave the way for such a development of the energy sector that will make Turkey competitive in the global market. The Minister also announced that a similar call will be opened for the wind energy in the coming months.

Minister Albayrak  noted that when the solar energy promotion started, the guaranteed price of electricity was between EUR 0.195 and 0.133, depending on the level of domestic equipment utilization. The current price is EUR 0.0699, which is less for almost two-thirds.

Solar energy is a great opportunity for Turkish economy. However, though ranked as second in Europe according to its solar energy potential, right after Spain, Turkey could not have fully developed that potential until now. With the capacity of 820 MW in solar, only 1% of total power production comes from this sector. The future 1 GW plant will be the first large-scale licensed solar power plant, an important step towards the utilization of Turkish renewables potential.

The winning consortium comprises the Kalyon group, known for its construction projects and Hanwha, one of the largest conglomerates  in South Korea. Its energy branch Hanwha Q CELLS is leading producer of solar cells in the world.