Turkey's first local solar tower built in southern city

ISTANBUL

The first local concentrated solar power tower plant built in Turkish southern province of Mersin has a 5 MW of thermal power capacity. Company photo

Turkish energy company Greenway has completed the construction of Turkey’s first “concentrated solar power tower plant” (CSP) in the southern province of Mersin, which is located on one of the world’s major Sun Belt areas.

The plant, which has been built with an investment of $50 million by Greenway with the support of Turkey’s science watchdog TÜBİTAK and the Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV), generates 5 MW of thermal power, equivalent to the energy requirement of 1,500 houses.

“Turkey is located on a major sun belt and is lucky compared to many countries that develop technology in this field,” Co-founder of Greenway and Project Management Director Serdar Erturan said in a statement. 

Erturan noted that major world powers had been placing a special focus on solar power plants as a substantial power generation source in response to the increasing energy demand due to rising technological needs.The plant is used as one of the most efficient methods to convert solar power to electricity across the world. While it’s one of its kind in Turkey, it also marks many firsts in the world.

There are similar tower type plants in Spain, Israel and the U.S., and the Greenway Mersin CSP stands out for its wireless communication system as well as its lego type design, which enables easy transfer, installation and easy access to the site.

Competetive price gain

The plant utilizes only water and solar light, and by focusing solar energy over the tower, it enables reaching high temperatures. Reflective panels consist of unique glass mirrors and system components and energy production processes contain only environment friendly materials. The only output of the system is the high pressure steam.

“Thanks to hybrid and compact systems that lower costs to competitive levels and are not dependent on external sources in technological terms, it is possible to generate energy from renewable energy sources, at high outputs and competitive prices,” Erturan said.