Countries
Second hydropower plant opened in Turkey
Statkraft opened its second power plant in Turkey, Kargi Kizilirmak hydropower plant on August 26, 2015. With Kargi fully operational, Statkraft has quintupled its capacity in the country, providing just above 1 percent of Turkey’s annual hydropower generation.
More than 700 people were gathered at Kargi HPP in the province of Corum for the official opening by Statkraft CEO and President, Mr. Christian Rynning-Tønnesen and Turkish Minister of Energy, Mr. Taner Yildiz.
Also representatives of the Turkish Parliament, the Ministries and the Norwegian Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. Janis Bjørn Kanavin joined the celebrations, together with lots of people from the neighboring villages and Statkraft staff.
In his speech, Statkraft’s CEO underlined that Statkraft is in Turkey for the long term.
“Turkey has abundant renewable sources of energy in its rivers, winds and sunshine. This is a good match with Statkraft who is Europe’s leading renewable energy company. The demand for electricity is growing fast as the population and the economy expands, making Turkey an important market for Statkraft”, Rynning-Tønnesen said.
Minister of Energy, Mr. Yildiz underlined the importance of the Kargi project for strengthening the capacity of renewable power generation in Turkey.
“Investments in renewables paves the way for prosperity", said the minister.
In addition to the power station with an installed capacity of 102 MW, the power plant consists of a dam on the river Kizilirmak and a 11.5 km tunnel leading the water to the turbines. The dam makes it possible to regulate the power generation to fit the changing demand during the day.
From previously Statkraft Turkey owns and operates the Cakit (20 MW) hydropower plant, and is constructing the Cetin (517 MW) hydropower project. Statkraft also delivers Trading & Origination services from its trading office in Istanbul.