Turkish telecoms firm Turkcell has bought an 18MW wind farm in Turkey.
The company this week announced its Turkcell Enerji subsidiary had signed a share transfer agreement to acquire Boyut Grup Enerji, which owns the İzmir Karadağ Wind Power Plant.
The wind farm has an 18MW installed capacity which gives an annual electricity generation capacity of 67.5GWh. The plant commenced operations in 2016 and holds an energy license that will expire in 2057
The deal was valued at $29.6 million, but Turkcell will make a payment of $11.5 million after adjusting for BGE’s debt.
“In line with our sustainability approach, we continue to lead investments in renewable energy and target to become a company meeting its electricity need from eco-friendly resources,” said Turkcell CEO Murat Erkan. “Going forward, we will continue to invest in projects with respect to renewable energy generation.”
Erkan said the telco's solar farm in Northern Cyprus – an area of the island currently occupied by Turkey and cut off from the rest of the country– generates 1.2 million kWh of electricity annually while its Ankara data center produces 300,000 kWh of electricity annually through solar on-site panels.
Solar investments at the company’s Adana Plaza, Diyarbakır Plaza, and Çorlu data centers generate 730,000 kWh of energy annually. Turkcell has committed to meeting its electricity demand from renewables by 2030 and becoming a carbon neutral company by 2050.
The total of the solar cells at the Cyprus farm, and the panels at the Turkcell data centers amounts to 0.25MW of average power over a year from existing solar cells, to the addition of an 18MW farm is a significant increase.
Turkcell Enerji (aka Enerjicell) brand, was established in 2017 and provides services to electricity consumers. The company has installed solar panels on the roofs of Turkcell Group buildings.
“Turkcell Enerji, operating under the Enerjicell brand, serves individual and corporate customers in Turkey, who are eligible to choose their own electricity suppliers,” added Erkan. Going forward, we will continue to invest in renewable energy through Turkcell Enerji Çözümleri and make Turkcell a carbon-neutral company that uses electricity generated from eco-friendly resources.”
Across Europe, telcos including BT, Orange, TDC Net, and TIM have all signed PPA agreements in recent months, while Vodafone has announced all its European operations were now powered by renewable energy.