Limak Holding subsidiary, Limak Enerji, which launched its 420.1-megawatt (MW) Cetin Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) in 2020, has now raised its 55.8 MW Gursogut HPP to full capacity. Thus, the company now generates 3.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per yar.
Already among the top three players in HPP investments, excluding the public energy producer Elektrik Uretim A.S. (EUAS), Limak Enerji has secured its position once again with its latest two HPPs.
The Gursogut HPP project, with a capacity of 55.8 MWe (megawatt electric), received approval for full capacity commercial electricity generation, according to Taner Ercomert, HPPs Group General Manager of Limak Enerji. The project was approved by the state water institution Devlet Su Isleri (DSI) in 2020. The company’s Gursogut-1 HPP has a total installed power of 38.08 MWe consisting of two 16.96 MWe units and a 4.16 MWe unit. The Gursogut-2 HPP, which has 17.72 MWe of installed power, contains two 8.86 MWe units.
ADDITIONAL 300 MILLION KWH PER YEAR
The first 4.37 MW unit in the Gursogut HPP was approved in October 2020. Thus, the HPP has taken a guarantee to sell electricity at USD 0.073 per kWh within the scope of the Renewable Energy Support Mechanism (YEKDEM). The remaining four units were approved this year. The Gursogut HPP, whose last unit was approved on June 25, 2021, will be able to generate 300 million kWh of electricity per year on average. The Gursogut HPP is located within the provincial borders of Ankara and Eskisehir on the Sakarya river upstream from Kargi Dam and HPP whose licenses are also owned by Limak.
HPP POWER TOTALS 1,137 MW
Based on all resources, Limak Enerji is among the leading players in the country’s electricity sector, according to Taner Ercomert. “The installed capacity of Limak HPP Group’s plants, which stood at 834 MW at the beginning of 2020, has increased to 1,137 MW as of the end of June 2021 with the completion of Gursogut and Cetin HPP projects,” said Ercomert.
GENERATES 3.5 BILLION KWH PER YEAR
Ercomert added that the average annual electricity generation capacity of HPPs in the portfolio of Limak Enerji, which stood at 2.6 billion kWh at the beginning of 2020, has risen to 4 billion kWh after all units of the Gursogut HPP were put into use. The annual hydroelectricity generation capacity share Limak Enerji receives from this total amount has reached 3.5 billion kWh.
THE KEY TO A RENEWABLE FUTURE: HYDROELECTRICITY
Ercomert, who is also the Vice President of the Hydroelectric Power Plants Industry Businesspeople Association (HESIAD), stated that hydroelectric energy is among the most reliable resources of power generation. “Hydroelectricity is a renewable resource. It can be provided instantly on demand and be used to store the existing power when it isn’t needed,” said Ercomert, stressing that hydroelectric energy is defined as the key to renewable energy’s future. “Hydroelectricity closes the gap when the wind doesn’t blow and easily meets the declines or booms in demand,” he noted.
A booming private sector
Taner Ercomert said Turkey is among the world’s leading actors in hydroelectric. He emphasized that HPPs receive the largest slice of the country’s installed power, according to the MW-100 Turkey’s Top 100 Electricity Producer Research study, prepared by the international consultancy company Kearney and the online energy journal Enerji Gunlugu in line with the 2020 year-end data. EUAS, Cengiz Enerji, Enerjisa, Limak Enerji and Aydem Yenilenebilir Enerji have become the five largest companies, respectively, as of June 2021 after new HPPs were put into use in the first half of the year.
Total HPP installed power sees 31,534 MW
The total installed power of HPP, which stood at 31,160 MW at the beginning of the year, has reached 31,534 MW as of today, rising 374 MW in the 6-month period. 80% of the increase in the last six months came from the two HPPs: the Gursogut HPP and the Alpaslan-2 HPP.