Zorlu to build largest geothermal power station in Turkey

Zorlu Doğal Elektrik, a sister company of Turkish energy producer Zorlu Enerji, will construct the country’s largest geothermal power station in Kızıldere in the southwestern province of Denizli.Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation and Fuji Electric, both world-renowned companies, won the tender to build the power station, which will provide 60 megawatts of electrical power and 50 megawatts of thermal power capacity.On average 1 MW of power can supply electricity to as many as 300 U.S. households per year. According to TurkStat figures, the average person in Turkey consumes 540 kW of electricity in one year.“We have made an important step toward Turkey’s largest geothermal power station, which we aim to finish in 2013,” Arif Özozan, Zorlu’s general director, said in a statement.Through this new investment, the group aims to support new working areas, particularly in greenhouse business and thermal tourism. “We will give priority to both local employment and organic agriculture,” he said.Zorlu will soon possess a steam turbine with a capacity of 650 tons per hour that will be produced in Japan and delivered to the group in July. It will be installed at the Kızıldere geothermal power station that Zorlu Enerji took over in 2008.The company first did some rehabilitation works to increase the station’s capacity from 7 to 15 megawatts, according to Özozan. Drilling and exploration works then followed for about a year, after which Zorlu decided to invest in Turkey’s largest geothermal power station.