Turkish banks open to geothermal investments, but how much?
Dora 2 Geothermal Power Plant, Turkey
Alexander Richter
7 Oct 2010
Turkish banks are increasing their efforts to support the country's various energy projects, with the majority renewable power projects, and are also looking at geothermal energy projects.
In a recent news piece on the Turkish banks, it says that the “Turkish banking system has been relatively unaffected by the global economic crisis, and has increased its support for the country’s various energy projects. Renewables constitute the majority of the energy projects for which Turkish banks grant loans on an almost daily basis, as investors turn to Turkey’s abundant renewable resources for environmentally friendly and low-cost energy.
Turkey’s leading banks, such as Akbank, Garanti Bank, and many others, now provide means of financing to projects involving wind, geothermal, and hyropower plants, as well as traditional thermal power plants and natural gas distribution centers.
Stating that natural gas distribution centers, thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants, wind power plants, and geothermal power plants are among Akbank’s energy project financing activities, Akbank’s Executive Vice President in charge of SMEs and Commercial Banking, Ferda Besli, said it will continue to finance the critically important energy industry, specifically focusing on renewables and energy efficiency.
The Executive Vice President of Garanti Bank, Ebru Edin, listed the projects Garanti Bank financed during 2009 and the first quarter of 2010 as: a USD 625 million loan for the Eren Energy Catalagzi Thermal Power Plant project with 1,360 MW of installed power; a USD 420 million financial loan in total for six wind farms with a total installed power of 285 MW; participation in the long-term financial loan for the Boyabat hydro power plant project with an installed power of 510 MW; and a 12-year financial loan for the USD 510 million ADUAS (Ankara Natural Electric Generation and Trade Co.) project of the Zorlu Group. “In the first quarter of 2010, together with ADUAS, we have allocated loans totaling USD 545 million for 19 hydro and wind energy projects with 455 MW in total,” Edin added.”
Source: Balkans Business News
