13 May 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Turkish conglomerate Kipaş Holding will invest $180 million in two energy projects, a geothermal power plant and a hydroelectric power plant, Hanefi Öksüz, chairman of the Kipaş board of directors, has said.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency yesterday, Öksüz stated that construction would begin on the new plants in 2011. Employing some 6,000 workers, Kipaş, based in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, is engaged in the textile, cement, agriculture and automotive sectors and plans to make energy one of their primary fields of operation. The company has been working for the past three years to develop the infrastructure to enter the sector, Öksüz said.The geothermal power plant will be erected in the town of Germencik in the western province of Aydın, he said, while the hydroelectric power plant will be situated in the town of Ermenek in the southern province of Karaman. Stressing that Turkey’s geothermal energy potential is significant, Öksüz stated that the company plans to invest $250 million in geothermal energy in the next 10 years.
