US-based GE Energy has been selected by Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim, the owner and operator of a new 130MW wind park in Turkey, to provide 52 2.5xl wind turbines. According to the company, the project will double Turkey's installed wind capacity.
The park, which will be located in Bahce, about 40 kilometers from Osmaniye province, will be the largest wind power project in Turkey to date. The project’s estimated annual electricity production of 500 million kilowatt-hours will be purchased by independent power consumers.
Interest in wind-generated electricity has been increasing in Turkey. GE Energy said that, according to the European Wind Energy Association, the country had 84MW of installed wind capacity at the beginning of 2007, an increase of 65MW from the start of 2006.
The 2.5xl wind turbines will be manufactured at GE Energy’s facilities in Salzbergen, Germany and Noblejas, Spain and will be shipped to the project site for installation beginning in March 2008.
GE Energy said that greater energy output and increased efficiency are among the key features of the new 2.5xl wind turbine. The new machine’s rotor diameter of 100 meters is an increase of 12 meters over the current 2.5MW wind turbine, and is the largest GE wind turbine available for onshore applications.
The 2.5xl has been designed to meet the immediate requirements of the EU, where the lack of available land constrains the size of projects, said Victor Abate, president of renewables for GE Energy.