Turkerler Holding, which operates in Turkey's energy and construction sectors, plans to invest an additional $664 million in geothermal energy power plants in the Aegean city of Manisa, the company's chairman said in a statement Thursday.

Kazim Turker, the holding's chairman, said the company has already invested $200 million to complete two geothermal energy power plants - JES 1 and JES 2.

These two plants with 48 megawatts of installed capacity produce 360 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, he said.

The company is currently working on the JES 3 power plant with an investment volume of $136 million to produce 220 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, Turker affirmed in the statement.

"After completing the third geothermal power plant in Manisa, we will respectively start constructing JES 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 power plants. The investment volume of these new plants will reach $664 million. Thanks to these plants, we plan to create 248 megawatts of installed power capacity in the region. Thus, our total geothermal investment in Manisa will reach up to $1 billion," Turker announced.

Total energy generation from all plants will reach 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours per year, he added, but did not elaborate on the completion dates for the plants.

By Nuran Erkul Kaya

Anadolu Agency

energy@aa.com.tr