Construction to start in Turkey

The last of the two main contracts for the construction of the Kargi power plant was signed on 17 December, and this means we are ready for construction start at the site in Corum province, northern Turkey.

The contract for delivering the electromechanical equipment, which comprise the inner workings of the power plant, was awarded to the Austrian company Voith Hydro, in cooperation with Turkish Voith Hydro Ltd. Sti. og Siemens Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. The construction work itself will be carried out by Turkish contractor Gülermak. The investments in the project will total NOK 2 billion.

Voith Hydro, with a branch in Ankara and head office in St. Poelten, Austria, will together with its partners, deliver two vertical Francis turbines, with an installed capacity of 51.8 MW each. The contract also includes generators, transformers and the power plant’s control systems. 

Four major European suppliers were pre-qualified for the contract, which was awarded to Voith Hydro.
The other major contract in the Kargi project was awarded to Turkish contractor Gülermak, based in Ankara. The company competed against 48 other pre-qualified contractors. Only one non-Turkish company submitted a bid.
The contract gives Gülermak the overall responsibility for the 11.5-kilometre tunnel from the dam to the power plant, as well as construction of the dam, the bypass structure, the intake and the power plant building.

The tunnel which will lead the water from the dam, through the mountain down to the power station will be drilled using a massive Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). The machinery is between 100 and 150 metres long, and will drill the 10-metre diameter tunnel in a single pass.

As many as 400 construction workers will be involved in the construction of the power plant, which will be completed by the end of 2013.
Construction of the 102 MW power plant will commence in January, and will provide an energy-starved Turkey with 470 GWh of clean hydropower annually once it is finished. The annual production at the plant will be able to supply 150,000 Turkish households with electricity.

The Kargi power plant will be constructed near the town of Osmancik in Corum province, northern Turkey. The power plant will utilise a 75-metre elevation difference in Turkey’s longest river, River Kizilirmak. This will be Statkraft’s second hydropower plant in Turkey. The first is Cakit power plant, which was opened in the autumn of 2010.

Statkraft’s objective in Turkey is to develop profitable power plants which will make lasting economic, social and environmental contributions in the communities where they are built. Turkey has a vast hydropower potential, and our ventures here form an important part of our strategy to be a global hydropower developer.