The Turkish subsidiary of Italian manufacturer in the geothermal sector, EXERGY, aims to add 100 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power by the end of this year and with an additional 100 MW by 2017, said Matteo Quaia, deputy general manager of EXERGY Turkey,
Speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency, Quaia said that EXERGY Turkey has a current turnover of more than 100 million Turkish liras ($33 million) and is domestically procuring almost all of its components.
'This has a very important impact on the local economy as a high amount of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plant value remains local, and mainly in the Izmir region where we are based,' Quaia said.
EXERGY is a subsidiary of Italian group Maccaferri Industrial Group which has an annual turnover of 1.2 billion euro with 4,700 employees across the globe.
The company, originally based in the Italian province of Varese, opened its second factory abroad in Turkey's western city of Izmir, where most of the geothermal power plants in the country are located.
The company has undertaken the development and manufacturing process of the ORC turbine.
'EXERGY supplies ORC systems with a Radial Outflow Turbine, the most innovative and efficient turbine technology in the sector which is unique to EXERGY plants. ORC systems are used for power production from renewable energy sources, including geothermal energy, waste heat recovery, biomass and solar,' Quaia explained.
He hailed Turkey's significance for EXERGY as their major market and their expectation to complete the installation of about 100 MW of geothermal plants by the end of this year with similar prospects for 2017.
'Our greatest market and our main focus is the Turkish geothermal market where we encountered great success by providing more than 300 MW of green energy and obtained almost a 50 percent market share. Additionally, we have also supplied several waste heat recovery plants to recover energy out-of-flue gases produced by Turkish glass mills, enabling these facilities to be greener,' he added.
Turkey’s geothermal sector has experienced an incredible rise in recent years with a growth in power generation capacity from 30 MW in 2008 to the current 648 MW. For this reason, Turkey is attracting a lot of interest from the global geothermal energy community both as a market for products and services, and as an example on how to stimulate geothermal project development.
'Since we started to look into the Turkish geothermal market several years ago, it was clear to us that Turkish geothermal potential is surely one of the greatest in the world. Together with the dynamic Turkish economy, this will continue to lead Turkey to become one of the most important geothermal markets in the world for ORC geothermal power plants as it is now,' Quaia said.
He considers that the establishment of EXERGY Turkey has had a good impact in developing the skills of the company's Turkish employees, along with its Turkish customers and sub suppliers who, through their exposure to the company's technology, have benefited from its experience and know-how.
Based in the city of Izmir on the Aegean coast, the EXERGY factory which houses the company's local service team and equipment, is responsible for the manufacture of radial outflow turbines.
'At first we decided to establish a local entity to facilitate the execution of our Turkish projects and to be able to provide a quick and efficient after-sales service support during the plant's operation. While successfully establishing it, we also looked into the possibility of producing the turbines and its accessories locally. In accordance with local regulations, our customers would highly benefit by installing locally produced components. The result of these investigations was very positive so, after being sure of our ability to provide the highest quality local products to our Turkish customers, we also decided to open a manufacturing facility,' he explained.
He explained that EXERGY's pioneering experience in Turkey has been successful and has inspired other foreign investors to establish locally, and he has welcomed other Italian investments in Turkey.
'Italy’s and Turkey’s energy sector are actually quite similar, with some differences related to different local culture which may easily be overcome with a positive, cooperative and mutually respectful approach. For all of these reasons we always recommend Italian investments in Turkey,' he added.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
ebrusengul@aa.com.tr