Hanwha Q CELLS announced that a consortium consisting of Hanwha Q CELLS and Kalyon Enerji Yatirimlari A.S. (Kalyon) have been awarded for the tender to construct 1 GW solar power plant in Turkey, the region's largest project of kind.

Karapinar Yenilenebilir Enerji Kaynak Alani (Karapinar YEKA) project will be located in Karapinar, 250 kilometers south of Ankara, the capital of Republic of Turkey. The project will have 1,000 MWac of installed capacity to generate clean electricity enough to power more than 600,000 households, and it is scheduled to commence operations within 36 months.

The consortium will also establish 500 MW of fully integrated PV manufacturing capacity locally in Turkey, which will be operational within 21 months under the Agreement.

Hon. Berat Albayrak, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources remarked "We have made an important step in our renewable energy strategy. With this step, we have successfully completed a tender that we will enable us to develop domestic production of cheaper, better quality electricity powered by best-in-class technology and allow us to export energy to adjacent regions." He added "We are here talking about the biggest single land project of 1,000 MWac installed capacity of clean solar power. This scale of investment will deliver an important message to the world about Turkey and Turkey's energy market."

"This is a big step towards reducing the external energy dependency on which the Ministry has been focusing over the past year," said Dr. Murtaza Ata, President of Kalyon's Energy Group. "With this project, Turkey's external energy dependency will decrease. This project shall also open opportunity window to extend solar business beyond our borders since Turkey has a significant geographical importance due to its close proximity to the Middle East and North Africa, where solar power potential is quite significant."

Mr. Seong-Woo Nam, Chairman and CEO of Hanwha Q CELLS said "We are excited to be a part of this historic milestone energy project in Turkey and the region. We will bring our leading technology and operations expertise to bring environmentally sustainable energy solutions to Turkey and to support the Turkish government's aim to be energy independent."

(Photo Courtesy to Hanwha Q CELLS)