27 Jul 2020 NEW EXPANSIONS IN WIND ENERGY VALUE CHAIN BY GÜRALP CRANE IN İZMİR
İzmir firms closely follow the development of the wind energy sector and integrate into the sector’s value chain. Cranes produced in Türkiye by İzmir company Güralp, serve to wind turbines in Denmark.
Güralp’s CEO Alparslan Kurtmen, by stating that they are in cooperation with wind equipment manufacturers operating in Türkiye, said that “This relationship led us to Denmark. The first request came from a Danish company. They bought 40 and 100-ton cranes for their facilities from us. 120 tons of cranes, which were produced during the epidemic, were also delivered to our customers.”Kurtmen stated to AA correspondent that, their company which were established as a small workshop, export to Denmark, one of the leading countries of the world in wind power equipment production. Kurtmen, by emphasizing that they have been serving in the sector for nearly 30 years, said “26 of our approximate 280 staff are engineers. Our company has taken a very important way in the production of electric overhead cranes. There are places where certain standards of this product have been established in the world, such as the European Materials Handling Federation (FEM). We are their first member and committed company from Türkiye. We export to 67 countries. We have a product range from 1 ton to 200 tons in our crane production capabilities.”
By remarking that the first manufacturing plants in the wind energy sector in Türkiye were established in İzmir, Kurtmen said: “The first of these was Enercon. Then Gesbey was founded in Gönen. After that, companies such as TPI Composites, LM Wind Power, Siemens-Gamesa, Ateş Çelik, CS Wind were put into service. Companies from the countries who have the most know-how in wind energy, such as Denmark and Germany, started initiatives to do business in Türkiye market. We followed the development of the wind sector in Türkiye very well.”
By stating that they have good cooperations with wind equipment manufacturers operating in Türkiye, Kurtmen added: “These cooperations took us to Denmark. The first request came from a Danish company that processes the hub where the wings of the wind turbine were attached. They bought 40 and 100-ton cranes for their facilities from us. The same company bought 4 more 120-ton cranes as part of their investment in Germany. These cranes, which were produced during the Covid-19 pandemic, were also delivered to our customers. Our company continues its services without interruption thanks to the collaborations it has established abroad. These cranes need to be special and reliable to handle the equipment formed as a result of special designs required by wind turbines. As we can follow these processes with our technological products and special software, we provide industry 4.0 infrastructure and eliminate risks for our customers.”
Güralp was among the successful companies that received support within the scope of the İzmir Development Agency’s SME Financial Support Program and they carried out the activities of establishing quality systems and improving the quality control laboratory.
