After winning the bid for the establishment of 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy in five different regions of Turkey with a consortium formed with Siemens and Kalyon, Turkerler Holding's chairman Kazim Türker said the state will save $270 million annually by using the Renewable Energy Resource Areas (YEKA), adding that they are currently negotiating with German Hermes for financing.

The Türkerler Holding chairman told Sabah newspaper that the state is now paying $10.40 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for wind energy together with incentives, and that this price dropped to $3.48 in the bidding, stressing that this drop will make an incredible contribution to the country's economy. "We will produce about $130 million of electricity per year and sell it to the state. If the state normally purchased it at $10.40, it would pay $400 million for this energy," Türker said, noting that the future price will be $3.48, totaling $130 million from now on, a savings of $270 million a year.

Hermes credit as financing

Türker said the YEKA tenders included a clause allotting for 65 percent domestic and 35 percent foreign production. "We are planning to use the Hermes credit, which was created by the German government to support the exporters, in the products we import. If all of the projects were based on imports, we could use the whole loan this way," Türker said, informing that they plan to cover the remaining financing with domestic resources and equity. "We are in talks with Siemens. If it participates in the project as a partner, all of the financing could originate from abroad," he added.

Türker said it was important to establish a partnership with Siemens at a time of political tension with Germany, highlighting that their partnership demonstrated that the problems between Turkey and Germany are not economic but political. "This situation is also very satisfactory in terms of Turkey's attracting a great amount of foreign capital," Türker said.

‘We will export technology'

Pointing out that Turkey will greatly benefit from the bid, Türker said with this project, a wind turbine factory will be established for the first time in Turkey, and these turbines will be stationed in five regions. "Currently 65 percent is domestic, soon all of the production will be. More importantly, we will be able to export technology because a R&D [research and development] team will be established. Eighty percent of this team will consist of domestic engineers. It will be possible to export the developed technology abroad," Türker said, underlining that this project has been a very important contribution source by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak for Turkey. He also added that this project will provide employment for 3,500 people.