Fiba Group has added four new wind energy plants with total 200MW capacity to its renewable energy portfolio. The group will now reach a total of 580MW capacity, 550MW from wind and 30MW from solar.
Established by Fina Energy, an affiliate of FIBA Group, the wind power plants are based in Van, Balikesir, Yalova and Istanbul provinces. There are a total of 55 turbines in four plants and they will reach full capacity by 2021.
FIBA Group invested USD 55m in Van, the largest wind energy investment in Eastern Anatolia, FIBA Group Chairman Murat Ozyegin said. The Group’s total investment for the plants has reached USD 200m, according to the Chairman. These four plants will help the country expand its domestic energy supply and decrease dependence on foreign sources, Ozyegin noted.
The company aims to become the largest wind energy supplier in Turkey. It has 10 wind and five solar power plants in Turkey.
Electricity Market Law enacted
The new Electricity Market Law, which oversees various changes in the electricity, mining, natural gas, geothermal and renewable energy verticals, besides eight other laws, was published in the official gazette. The new law delays the regional electricity price tariff implementation for five years, which means that loss and fault costs will be equally calculated around the country.
The law, which also makes changes to the mining law, oversees cancellations of mining licenses of owners who missed their payments. Those who missed payments in January will be charged four percent monthly interest and the license will be cancelled if the owner don’t make the payment by June of the same year, according to the new regulation.
A new Organized Natural Gas Wholesale Market will also be formed. Municipalities will be responsible for financing and building infrastructure in order to provide natural gas to residential units where there is no zoning plan or no pipelines are available,. Local municipal assemblies will be responsible for deciding the places to provide natural gas.
The presidential office will also be responsible for deciding on the size of the financial contribution to unlicensed self-sustaining renewable energy projects within the feed-in tariff mechanism that are constructed with local supply and components.
Old hydro power plants to be renewed
The state owned Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) is working in collaboration with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) to develop local components to renew hydroelectric power plants (HEPP) in Turkey. The company has signed a contract to produce four generators with TUBITAK, which will replace the aging generators in Sariyar HEPP, as part of an ongoing rehabilitation project. A horizontal turbine, speed regulator, warning system, protective equipment and other components will be developed and manufactured with local sources, according to the contract. Also, an automation system for EUAS will be developed by the technical department of the company. The target is to maximize the local supply level for the planned USD 10bn electromechanical investment in HEPPs. The components will also be used to renew older HEPPs in the company portfolio. The company is currently conducting rehabilitation studies in large HEPPs like Keban and Karakaya.