Turkey gives 50MW Europe debut to GE's 1.6MW wind turbine

GE will deliver 31 of its 1.6-100 wind turbines to Fina Enerji’s 50MW Tayakadin development near Istanbul, Turkey – marking the first installation of the machine in Europe.

Darius Snieckus, Copenhagen

The wind farm will supply energy to more than 14,000 homes. Along with the 1.6MW wind turbines – which will be shipped from the US group’s Salzbergen, Germany facility by the end of 2012 – GE will provide commissioning and technical advisory services for the Tayakadin project.

Fina will handle the installation and civil works at the wind farm, which is slated to be switched on by the first quarter of 2013.

The Tayakadin project is part of the Turkish government’s plans to boost wind power production to 20GW by 2023 in the country.

It is seen as having one of the richest wind resources in Europe, with a potential generation capacity put at some 48GW. The country’s existing wind farms produce about 1.8GW.

The 100-metre-diameter rotor turbines are built on GE’s widely-deployed 1.5MW platform and incorporate component designs from its 2.5MW machines.

GE expects to supply more than 1,200 1.6-100s into the US market within the next two years.

Tayakadin is the third site where Fina will erect GE wind turbines, with 35 of its 2.5-100s in operation at two sites in the Izmir and Hatay provinces, which together have a total capacity of 87.5MW.