First 135 MW of new wind plant set to double national total

Turkey looks set to double its installed wind power capacity once again when the first 135 MW phase of the Bahce plant comes on line next year. The project, located in the Osmaniye province of south central Turkey near the Syrian border, is being developed by local owner-operator Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim AS, part of the Zorlu Group, active in energy, electronics, textiles and real estate. GE Energy will supply 54 of its new 2.5 MW turbines from its German and Spanish factories for installation starting in March. All being well, Zorlu says a further 110 MW will be installed in 2010. Total installed wind power capacity in Turkey, which according to Vestas has a wind resource better than any European country barring Britain, currently stands at 146.55 MW. The biggest plant to date is a 39.2 MW facility of Enercon 800 kW turbines at Mare near Izmir. Zorlu Enerji owns 420 MW of conventional power generation in Turkey and is working on gas power plants in Israel and Russia, but says that its priority in future will be renewable energy, primarily wind, hydro and geothermal generation. The company is developing a 50 MW wind plant in Pakistan, also due to start turning in 2008, and is aiming at 300 MW of capacity overall in the country.