İzmir Development Agency calls for international cooperation

BILBAO

İzmir Development Agency (İZKA) has called for international wind energy collaboration with the Aegean port city of İzmir, dubbed “the wind capital of Turkey.”

Hülya Ulusoy Sungur, the coordinator of İZKA’s Boosting Effective and Sustainable Transformation (BEST) for Energy project, hailed İzmir as a production hub of wind sector equipment, ranking Turkiye in fifth place in Europe for wind energy equipment manufacturing.

Speaking at the WindEurope Conference in Bilbao last week, she hailed İzmir as a production hub of wind sector equipment, ranking Turkiye in fifth place in Europe for wind energy equipment manufacturing.

The large region with a diversified economy and multisectoral economy, ranging from agriculture to defense and aviation, automotive, machinery and textiles, has become competent in wind energy production, equipment manufacturing and services covering logistics and maintenance.

The province has also made significant progress in clean energy technologies over the last two decades.

“We are trying to become a network hub that stimulates collaborative action among members. We have good companies, a strong infrastructure, and good quality products. We have flexible production and a qualified workforce, but we know these are not enough. We are looking to the future. To build the future together, we need international collaboration,” she said on April 6.

İzmir “has 16 ports, 10 universities, five technoparks, 16 organized industrial zones, three free zones and a population of 4.4 million,” she added.

A study visit by Turkish officials and entrepreneurs was organized as part of the BEST For Energy project, supported by the European Commission within the scope of the Competitive Sectors Program of the Turkish Industry and Technology Ministry.

Initiated in the third quarter of 2020, the project has been run by İZKA and the İzmir-based Association of Energy Industrialists and Businessmen (ENSIA).

A roadmap by İZKA to promote offshore wind development estimated Turkey’s total offshore wind potential at 70 gigawatts (GW), according to a report released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Wind power became the largest source of electricity generation for the first time with a 22.6 percent share on Nov. 28, according to the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation.

Wind power plants generated 178,964 megawatt-hours out of a total of 791,794 megawatt-hours of daily electricity output.

Turkey’s installed wind power capacity reached 10,585 megawatts, making it the second-largest renewable capacity after hydropower.

Natural gas power plants followed with a 22 percent share of electricity generation on Nov. 28, and imported coal power plants ranked third with a 17.8 percent share.