GE, 3 Turkish firms to invest $1.3B in wind power

General Electric (GE) will make a $1.3 billion investment in wind power in partnership with three Turkish companies, namely, FİBA, Borusan and Özgül Holding. The project, which will generate power for five cities, will start operations in 2021. This investment will save Turkey $277 million in natural gas imports on an annual basis.

Turkey continues to attract foreign investors ahead of April's constitutional referendum. GE, one of the largest industrial companies in the world, with a $250 billion turnover, will cooperate with three Turkish companies, FİBA, Borusan and Özgül Holding. These companies will make an investment worth $1.3 billion, of which $1.2 billion will go toward a wind power plant and $100 million for a wind turbine factory.

The project will be accomplished with 75 percent domestic and 25 percent foreign investment. GE will invest $350 million in the project. After two years of the project-license-permit period and two years of the investment process, the project is planned to begin operations in 2021. The wind plants will be founded on an area of around 1,000 hectares and will generate 3,840 gigawatts of electricity per year. Turkey currently has a 6,000 megawatts installed capacity of wind power plants.

This investment, corresponding to one sixth of the total capacity of the already installed plants, will provide electricity to five medium-sized cities. Özgül Holding CEO Ömer Faruk Özgül said that the project will save Turkey 768 million cubic meters in natural gas imports, and will make a $277 million contribution to the current account deficit. Moreover, while 20 percent of the investment will be financed with equity, the remaining 80 percent will be financed through loans.