WIND ENERGY SECTOR MEETING

In our province, which meets 20% of Türkiye’s wind energy production, we hosted the Wind of İzmir: Wind Energy Sector Meeting, where we discussed the future of the wind energy sector and investment plans with the participation of our Deputy Ministers of Industry and Technology.

İzmir, the wind energy capital of Türkiye, is one of the important centers of Europe in both energy and equipment production areas. “İzmir Wind – Wind Energy Sector Meeting”, which we organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Technology to bring this position of our province to the agenda; was held at SwissOtel Hotel Büyük Efes on 20 June 2019 with the participation of Deputy Ministers of Industry and Technology Dr. Çetin Ali Dönmez and Mehmet Fatih Kacır and sector representatives.

Our Secretary-General Dr. Mehmet Yavuz made the opening speech of our meeting, where many actors came together from the public and private sectors, who can play a role in accelerating the development of the wind energy sector in İzmir.

Yavuz stated that İzmir has a very high resource potential in the renewable energy sector and that our Agency was one of the first institutions to provide financial support to the field of Renewable Energy in Türkiye in 2012, and also mentioned to the Renewable Energy and Environmental Technologies Financial Support Program held in 2015. He stated that İZKA continues its activities in this sector to attract domestic and foreign investors to our region, to make İzmir a base for equipment production, and to realize a sectoral cluster.

Our Secretary-General Dr. Yavuz also gave the good news that a European Union project called “Best for Energy” with a budget of approximately 3 million Euros will be carried out by our Agency within the scope of the Competitive Sectors Program implemented by our Ministry of Industry and Technology.

Hakan Yıldırım, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB), which is one of the most important umbrella institutions of the wind energy sector in Türkiye, stated that the installed power in Türkiye is in the 5th place when compared to Europe. He emphasized the power and potential of İzmir in this field, as 50% of the power plants in Türkiye are located in the Aegean and 43 of the 180 power plants are in İzmir.

İzmir Deputy Governor Nihat Kaynar talked about the current situation and development potential of İzmir in the wind energy sector. He emphasized that İzmir has become one of the important centers in our country and Europe both in the fields of electrical energy production from wind energy, which is a renewable and clean energy source, and in the production of sector-specific high value-added equipment of the wind turbine. He pointed out that the installed power, which is based on the 1,400 MegaWatt limit, is expected to reach 1,500 MegaWatts in the coming years.

The evaluation and views of Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, who started his speech by stating that they are fully focused on the development, production, and exportation of our country’s high value-added products with domestic and national means, were as follows: “The content of the National Technology Move consists of works that involve the development and production of domestic and national products. Another axis includes an end-to-end focus on mid-high and high-tech products, high value-added products. In this way, we aim to increase the share of medium-high and high technology products in exports.”

Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Dr. Çetin Ali Dönmez, in his speech, stated that Türkiye’s qualified manpower is at a substantial point, however, he also underlined that the communication of sector stakeholders with each other should be at a high level and touched on the key role of Development Agencies.

Dönmez said in his speech, ‘‘There is a significant need for the development of production and industry, closing the current account deficit. The point we have reached is not to be underestimated. We have a very important industrial potential. However, we also have two important issues on our agenda. One of them is communication. The industry’s communication with the public needs to be strengthened. In this context, we see development agencies as a very important element. If we listen to you, we can only do good things.’’

World’s giants choose İzmir for investment

World’s giant companies such as Enercon Türkiye, TPI Composites, and CS Wind Türkiye, which chose İzmir for their investments, participated in the first session held within the scope of Wind of İzmir: Wind Energy Sector Meeting.

In the first session titled “World Giants in Wind Energy Equipment Production in İzmir”, CS Wind Türkiye General Manager Youngjae Ryu and Enercon Türkiye General Manager Arif Günyar took part as speakers, while TPI Composites Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India Vice President Gökhan Serdar attended as moderator.

Domestic companies are the driving force in the value chain of the sector

Our Agency Investment Support Office Coordinator Hİ Murat Çelik moderated the second session titled “Suppliers from İzmir in the Wind Energy Equipment Production Value Chain”, which focuses on the rapid integration of domestic companies into the value chain of the wind energy equipment production sector, which has developed with foreign investments. Among the speakers were Ateş Wind Power Board Member Mahmut Güldoğan, Tibet Makina General Manager Tibet Arbak and XGEN Energy Managing Partner İskender Kökey.