Turkish wind farm gets EBRD boost

A €135 million loan to Turkish energy company Enerjisa for the construction of a new wind farm in the country has been made by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).

Turkey is the sixth largest electricity market in Europe, and one of the fastest growing globally. It is aiming to connect 10GW of wind capacity alone to the grid by 2020.

The proceeds of the EBRD loan will be used to build Enerjisa Bares WPP, an on-shore independent wind farm in Balikesir in western Turkey. Enerjisa Bares WPP will consist of 52 wind turbines and will have a generation capacity of 142.5MW.

Enerjisa CEO Yetìk Kadrì Mert said, "We are targeting to increase the share of renewable energy sources in our generation portfolio, in order to meet the electricity demand of Turkey in the most reliable and environmentally-friendly manner.

"With the addition of 142.5MW Bares WPP to our portfolio, we have taken a strong step forward in our wind power investments."

Jointly owned by Haci Omer Sabanci Holding and Verbund International, Enerjisa claims to be the leading privately-owned Turkish energy company active in electricity generation, trading, wholesale and distribution.

On completion, expected in the second half of this year, Enerjisa Bares WPP will become Turkey's largest wind farm to date, increasing Turkey's current installed wind generation capacity of around 1.8GW by approximately 8%.

The EBRD financing is structured under the bank's A/B loan scheme, with €100 million on EBRD's account and the rest on the account of commercial banks.

This is the EBRD's second wind farm in Turkey. In 2009, the bank provided €45 million to finance the construction and development of a 135MW on-shore independent wind farm, in Osmaniye, in southern Turkey. The EBRD has also provided €375 million through five Turkish banks for the financing of mid-sized renewable energy projects, which includes the financing of a significant amount of wind farm investment.

Since the beginning of the EBRD's operations in Turkey, the bank has invested over €1.5 billion in various sectors of the country's economy, mobilising additional investment in excess of €3 billion.