Turkey's next step: Large wind tender

By Murat Temizer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's strategy to boost the country's domestic energy resources continued with Monday's solar tender, but wind energy will be the next step in this strategy, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak said Monday.

Albayrak explained that the Kalyon-Hanwha consortium won the tender bid on Monday for the construction of Turkey's biggest solar power plant in Karapinar in the central Anatolian region at a cost of $0.0699 per kilowatt-hour.

The Minister hailed the project as a day of revolution for Turkey's energy sector, and added that "in the coming months, we will see a similar tender in wind energy."

"This project is a crucial turning point for our strategy. Overall four companies participated in today's tender. Obviously, the result of this revolutionary tender was a testimony to the beginning of a process in which energy will be exported to both Turkey and the region," he said.

Turkey has already begun a strategy to boost the country's domestic energy resources, including coal and renewables. The capacity of local resources in the total energy mix is expected to grow further.

According to the ministry's 2015-2019 Strategic Plan, 32,000 megawatts of production capacity in hydro power is targeted, 10,000 megawatts is aimed for wind, 1,000 megawatts in geothermal, 3,000 megawatts from solar and 700 megawatts from biomass.

Turkey aims to consolidate its position centered among energy-rich countries to reduce its energy import dependence and increase reliance on domestic resources.