Turkey's Agaoglu to invest $260M in renewables

By Ugur Aslanhan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's Agaoglu Group plans to invest more than one billion Turkish liras ($260 million) in renewable energy in 2018, its chairman said.

Agaoglu and German Nordex Energy (GmbH) signed an agreement on Monday for the turbines of Agaoglu's 125-megawatt Balikesir wind power plant which will be built in Turkey's Marmara region. The power plant is expected to cost 735 million Turkish liras ($193.17 million).

Speaking after the signing of the agreement, Ali Agaoglu, chairman of the group, said that they had invested 700 million Turkish liras ($183.97 million) in renewable energy in 2016 and 400 million Turkish liras ($105.13 million) in 2017.

"Investments in renewable resources will decrease Turkey's current deficit," he said.

The company's Bursa and Yalova wind power plants which started producing electricity last year, with a 400-million-Turkish-lira investment, meet the electricity demand of 160,000 households.

The total capacity of the plants is 68.4 megawatts.

Agaoglu added that the local production of wings and generators of the wind turbines for the Balikesir wind power plant will contribute to Turkey's economy.

Agaoglu Energy Group Head Hakki Agaoglu said they will complete a 450-megawatt wind power plant in Konya, a province in Turkey's Central Anatolian region.

"This is Turkey's biggest wind power plant which is located in a single area. We plan to begin its operation by 2020. Thus, our installed capacity will reach 1,000 megawatts and total investments to five billion Turkish liras ($1.31 billion)," he added.

Agaoglu said that Kartal wind power plant in Eskisehir -- a Central Anatolian province -- with 39 megawatts of capacity will start production in the second half of 2018.

Its investment volume is nearly 230 million Turkish liras ($60.45 million), Agaoglu said.

"So, with Balikesir and Kartal wind power plants, our investments in 2018 will be around one billion Turkish liras," Agaoglu concluded.