ACWA Power wants to increase its energy presence in Turkey with a focus on renewables and has ongoing solar, wind and geothermal investments in the pipeline, President and CEO of ACWA Power said on Wednesday.
Speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of World Future Energy Summit 2017, taking place in Abu Dhabi, President and CEO of ACWA Power, Paddy Padmanathan said that they already have 950 megawatts combined cycle gas power plant in Kirikkale, a province in the Central Anatolia of Turkey.
The construction has almost finished and the power plant will come online in the middle of this year, he noted.
ACWA Power, registered and head-quartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is owned by eight Saudi conglomerates, along with the Sanabil Direct Investment Company (owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia), the Saudi Public Pensions Agency and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.
"We have always said that our ambition in Turkey is a significant amount of capacity but with a diversified portfolio. So, we do not need to pursue any more gas. Thus, for us the next is wind, photovoltaic solar and geothermal," Padmanathan stated.
He said that Turkey is in a process of tendering 1,000 megawatts of solar power, a project in which ACWA Power is currently working on.
"We have applied for the next round of wind licenses. The initial program is around 350-400 megawatts. We will finish them first, and then we will keep adding."
He also shared that the company is in the process of identifying some geothermal opportunities.
"In geothermal, even 50 megawatts is a big capacity. We are evaluating the capacities and capability, but between 50-200 megawatts would make more logical sense for us," Padmanathan said.
Turkey will tender the 1,000 megawatt solar project next month in Karapinar, Konya -- a province in the Central Anatolian region. The tender will be held in a reverse auction. The ceiling price per megawatt is set at 8 dollar cent and the bidder who offers the minimum price per kilowatt hour will win the tender.
The winner will sign a 15 year purchase agreement with the government.
Padmanathan, as a foreign investor in Turkey, acknowledged that Turkey offers the investor an attractive market despite terrorism and social tension.
"The assets we are investing in have a life of 40 to 50 years. We will go through cycles of terrorism, geopolitical tensions or other issues during this period. There are some fundamentals that do not change just because of terrorism or certain political cycles," he underlined.
"Turkey is geographically advantaged. We cannot move it and no terrorist can move it. That geopolitical position of being at the crossroads of the east, west and north is still there. Gas pipelines will have to run through Turkey." Padmanathan said.
"There is a literate population [in Turkey] who demonstrate a willingness to work and who are not sitting around watching other people work. These are valuable foundations. No terrorism is going to have an influence on this," Padmanathan stressed.
- Saudi Arabia to participate in 400 MW and 300 MW wind and solar tender, respectively
Padmanathan referred to Saudi Arabia's master plan to install 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2023.
He asserted that Saudi Arabia will have this capacity in the system in the next five years.
"That means that they are looking to procure 10,000 megawatts effectively in the next four years. We already know that initially the first projects are for 400 megawatts in wind and 300 megawatts in photovoltaic solar. Out of this 10,000 megawatts, other sources like waste, geothermal, will be included," Padmanathan said.
The company as a developer will participate "to bring significant competition to ensure that costs are kept as low as possible," he explained.
An increase in renewable capacity is a given for countries that appreciate their cost effectiveness and the speed in which they can be deployed, according to Padmanathan.
"So, I absolutely expect that the renewables component in the fuel mix will be much higher than what is being discussed today because it would be the most efficient way of providing electricity. As time goes by, we fully expect that renewables will continue to drive cost, making it more efficient. And, of course, the other benefit is that renewables are the least carbon intensive sources," he concluded.
ACWA Power currently operates in 11 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey, Southern Africa and South East Asian regions.
(Anadolu Agency)
