Croatia’s first geothermal power plant will be operational in 2017 with a capacity of 10 megawatts, chairman of Turkey-based MB Holding said on Tuesday.
MB Holding based in Gaziantep, a province in the south-eastern part of Turkey, was also responsible for building Turkey's first geothermal power plant as a private investment company.
'We have been interested in geothermal power plants for 15 years and attach great importance to geothermal power as it is the only energy source generating electricity anytime of the year,' Muharrem Balat, CEO of MB Holding said in an exclusive interview with The Anadolu Agency.
'We won the tender for exploring geothermal reserves in all Croatian fields in February. After we complete our 10 megawatt power plant in 2017 costing around $33 million, we will start exploring these fields as well to develop geothermal energy in Croatia,' he stated.
Croatia is planning to meet 35 percent of its electricity needs from renewable energy by 2025. Thus, the country is active in the operation of renewable projects such as geothermal and wind power as well as licensing some hydrocarbon explorations.
Balat underlined that they are enthusiastic to build Croatia's first geothermal power plant and be able to start activities in Europe as a Turkish company.
- Capacity in Turkey to reach 74 megawatts
He also said that MB Holding currently holds 54 megawatt geothermal capacity in Turkey with three existing power plants and a fourth one, the Dora-4 power plant, will be operational in 2016.
Dora-1, Dora-2, Dora-3a and Dora-3b power plants were constructed respectively starting from 2006 in Aydin, a province in the Aegean region of Turkey.
'We laid the foundation of the Dora-4 power plant. When it becomes operational, our capacity will increase to 74 megawatts next year,' he underlined.
Turkey's recently installed capacity is 69,981 megawatts. Installed geothermal capacity is 405 megawatts and corresponds to 0.6 percent of the total capacity. The country aims to reach 1,000 megawatts of installed power capacity in geothermal energy by 2023.
By Nuran Erkul
Anadolu Agency
nuran.erkul@aa.com.tr