(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Trend
Kalyon Holding is looking to expand its investments in the
renewable energy sector in the coming period, part of one of
Türkiye's top conglomerates' bid to increase its engagement in
clean energy, its chairperson said, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah .
Engaged in the construction, energy and Aviation industries,
Kalyon Holding will use the capital from a recent sale of a stake
in its energy affiliate to an Abu Dhabi conglomerate to expand its
solar panel manufacturing capacity and focus more on solar and wind
energy, Chairperson Cemal Kalyoncu said.
The company announced on Aug. 11 that it agreed to sell a 50%
stake in Kalyon Energy to International Holding Co (IHC) for 1.8
billion dirhams ($490 million). The transaction includes solar
power projects in Türkiye's Karapinar and Gaziantep regions and a
wind power project in Ankara.
Addressing a press meeting, Kalyoncu said the holding that has
large solar and wind energy concessions would be investing around
$2 billion in renewable energy over the next five years.
The resources from the stake sale will be used in financing the
expansion of Kalyon Holding's fully integrated solar panel
manufacturing plant in the capital Ankara, which Kalyoncu said was
not part of the deal with IHC.
Kalyon PV's yearly 1,000 megawatts (MW) production capacity will
be lifted to more than 2,000 MW through a $150 million to $200
million investment that will also expand its employment to 3,000,
he said.
Kalyoncu emphasized that the group's priorities would be
centered more on renewables in the coming period, also stressing
that the Kalyon Energy agreement and the new partnership would
bring more convenient and cheaper financing opportunities.
Half of the resources from the deal with IHC are expected to
arrive by mid-September and the rest by the end of the year, he
said.
“When we first started working for the fully integrated solar
panel factory, the efficiency rate was 18%-18.5%. It has now risen
to 23%. As the capacity increases, the technology changes, so we
also increase the efficiency,” he said.
“The panel is currently receiving a lot of attention from all
over the world. We have already sold the next seven-eight months of
production of the existing factory.”
The plant is currently meeting the needs of the 1,350 MW solar
power plant being built in the central province of Konya. The
Kalyon Karapinar Solar Power Plant will be the biggest solar power
plant in Europe built on a single site and one of the five biggest
in the world.
The total investment to be made in the massive project is
estimated to be around $1 billion. It will be capable of meeting
the annual electricity needs of 2 million people once it is
completed in 2023.
Türkiye obtains the vast majority of its energy from imports and
in order to boost its renewable energy production, it began
large-scale solar and wind power station tenders in 2017.
Post-Karapinar production is planned to be channeled toward the
domestic market, as well as demand from abroad, Kalyoncu said.
No deal for Istanbul Airport for now
Among others, Kalyoncu also said there were investors exploring
a potential stake purchase in Istanbul Airport. He said they were
not thinking of any deal at the moment but noted that even if they
agreed, they will not go below 50% stake together with their
partner in the joint venture operating the airport.
Kalyon, earlier this year, secured its spot as the majority
shareholder of IGA Havalimanı Ishletmeleri, the company founded in
2013 to construct and operate the airport, after two investors
decided to sell their shares.
The transaction has seen the stakes of Kalyon Holding and Cengiz
Inshaat rising to 55% and 45%, respectively.
The consortium that had made the winning 22.15 billion euros bid
back in May 2013 to build and operate the airport consisted of
Kalyon, Limak, Kolin, Cengiz and Mapa. The consortium is required
to pay around 1.1 billion euros annually for 25 years.
The gleaming glass-and-steel structure along the Black Sea coast
was officially open in late October 2018, before becoming fully
operational in April 2019. It reflected the emergence of Istanbul,
Europe's largest city straddling Europe and Asia, as a major
regional transport hub.
The $7-billion Istanbul Airport can handle 90 million passengers
a year in the current phase, which, while it is a high figure, is
nothing compared to its potential capacity to serve 200 million
after the completion of all phases, making it the world's
largest.
All four phases of the airport's construction and expansion,
including six runways, are expected to be completed by 2028.
Kalyoncu said the facility had topped the pre-coronavirus
pandemic levels with 60 million passengers, adding that they
foresee an average annual passenger traffic growth of up 10%.
“We don't have any sales decision at the moment. Even if we
decide on any sale, together with our current partner, we will
definitely not fall below 50%,” he said.
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