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Turkish MB Holding win tender for Croatian geothermal project

Turkish MB Holding win tender for Croatian geothermal project Old Port Dubrovnik in Croatia (Source: Flickr, CC, By: Dennis Jarvis)
Francisco Rojas 5 Feb 2015

The Turkish company holds the permit to explore and construct the country's first geothermal plant, after winning a bid in January, 2015

According to local news, Turkish firm, MB Holding will build Croatia’s first geothermal power plant, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.

The Turkish company holds the permit to explore and construct the country’s first geothermal plant, after winning a bid in January, 2015. The Gaziantep-based company also built Turkey’s first geothermal power plant, Menderes Geothermal.

“Croatia’s 35 percent of electricity will be provided by renewable sources after 2020,” said Muharrem Balat, chairman of MB Holding.

“Energy demand is rising in parallel to economic developments,” Balat said, and underlined the importance of the renewable energy sector in the world.

“If oil finishes in the well, it has to be closed down, and coal cannot be produced if it runs out in the mines. In the renewable sector, however, if energy sources are used carefully, it will renew itself,” he added.

He explained that renewables are beneficial both to the health of human beings and the environment.

The capacity of the plant will be announced when the potential of the wells are discovered, according to company.

The U.S. is the leading country with 3,389 megawatts of geothermal installed capacity, while the Philippines falls in second place with 1,848 megawatts and is followed in third place by Indonesia with 1,341 megawatts, figures from the Geothermal Energy Association shows.

Turkey’s current capacity for geothermal energy is 404 megawatts, which is 27 times more than it was twelve years ago at 15 megawatts, Turkey’s mining directorates figures shows.

By 2016, the country’s geothermal installed capacity is expected to increase to 600 megawatts with the development of operations in the current electricity generation plants, according to the directorate.

Geothermal energy is preferred by investors as it is a secure investment with relatively low risks and serves more operational hours compared to other renewables.

MB Holding was founded in 1968 in the southeast part of Turkey, and operates in many fields including energy, building construction, construction of greenhouses and textiles.

Source: Anadolu Agency