Turkey - Fifteen wind power plants coming to Çeşme

Fifteen wind power plants at a total cost of 460 million euros will be established over the next three years on the Çeşme peninsula, an area with the highest terrestrial wind potential in Europe.

The issuance of licenses for wind power plants had been halted for 10 years due to lack of transmission lines to the region. However, the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK) has approved the applications for 15 wind power plant licenses from major conglomerates, including Çalık, ENDA, Ayen, Güriş and Bilgin Enerji.

The plants will have electric capacity varying between 10 megawatts (MW) and 50 MW. When completed the total capacity of plants in Çeşme will be 426 MW and the annual electricity production will reach 1.6 million kilowatt hours (KWh). EPDK President Hasan Köktaş told the Anatolia news agency that this is a major step in turning Çeşme's energy potential into actual electricity.

Köktaş said the private companies that acquired the licenses in the region would also undertake the installation of transmission lines to the national electricity grid, which, he stated, will cost around 10 million euros.

Currently there are 13 wind power plants in Turkey with 249 MW capacity; this number will climb to over 470 MW with the addition of four new power plants by the end of this year.