A solar power plant installed on the roof of the sports stadium of the legendary Turkish football team, Galatasaray, received a Guinness World Records title, Enerjisa Enerji, the installer, announced Thursday.
The plant installed on the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex Nef Stadium will go down in history as the world's 'most powerful solar power output from a sports stadium' in terms of installed capacity totaling 4.2 megawatts.
Energy generation has started from over 10,000 solar panels erected on the stadium’s rooftop by Enerjisa Enerji and Turkish team Galatasaray.
Built over an area of 40,000 square meters, the plant will contribute more than 1 billion Turkish liras to Galatasaray over a 25-year period.
Enerjisa Enerji provided the financing of around 20 million liras for the project.
- Electricity generation equivalent to consumption of 2,000 households
The power plant will prevent the emissions of approximately 3,250 tons of CO2 every year. It will avoid the release of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of planting 200,000 trees for emissions removal from the atmosphere for over 25 years, while also contributing to the protection of the environment.
The panels mounted will generate 4,650 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electric energy, which is equivalent to the consumption of approximately 2,000 households annually.
Enerjisa Enerji will provide plant maintenance for 10 years as part of its Energy Performance Model.
'We installed a solar power plant on the roof of our stadium, which will operate at high performance and from which we can get the highest efficiency,' Burak Elmas, the president of the Galatasaray Sports Club, was quoted as saying at the inauguration ceremony.
Elmas also hailed the project as a first in Turkiye to be implemented on a stadium rooftop with a Performance-Based Business Model.
'We completed the entire project on time. At Galatasaray Sports Club, we are aware of the significance of consuming energy generated from domestic and renewable resources. We are also aware that the path to reduce our country's dependence on foreign resources and to create employment is through the accurate consumption of our energy,” he said.
Murat Pinar, CEO of Enerjisa Enerji and chairman of Enerjisa Consumer Solutions also highlighted the savings the Galatasaray club will make of more than 5 million liras this year alone.
'The project we carried out with Galatasaray at NEF Stadium was one of the best examples. We believe that the project will also make a great contribution to the financial sustainability of Turkish sports,' he said.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr