Plans for the construction of a 1000 MW solar farm in Turkey took a step closer to realisation in December with a groundbreaking ceremony for a 500 MW solar manufacturing facility in Ankara.
Hanwha Q Cells and its local partner, Kalyon Enerji, won a tender to build the Karapinar Renewable Energy Resource Area (YEKA) project in March 2017. A key element of its successful bid was the inclusion of a new, fully integrated photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility to fulfil local content requirements in the tender.
Hanwha says that the groundbreaking ceremony for the solar factory was attended by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Minister of Energy and National Resources Berat Albayrak. Hanwha and Kalyon will also establish an on-site R&D center to carry out various solar technology research projects.
The Karapinar YEKA project will be located in Karapinar, 250 km south of Ankara. It is due to start operating in 2020.
