Turkey's second-largest independent energy producer, Aksa Energy, has set its sights on the Asian market with an interest in installing a gas power plant in Indonesia, the company's group head said on Tuesday.
With Indonesia's ambition to install 35,000 megawatts of capacity within a short timeframe, Aksa Energy is in negotiations for the possibility of relocating gas plants in Sanliufa, Manisa and Van in Turkey to Indonesia.
'The process advances slowly. However, we are in close negotiations,' Cuneyt Uygun, Aksa Energy's group head said.
In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Uygun said the company already has a significant presence in the African continent and is currently producing electricity in Ghana, Madagascar and Mali.
The company no longer produces electricity from the relatively inefficient heavy fuel-oil (HFO) power plants in Turkey and has relocated them to African countries.
The HFO power plant that was transferred from Turkey to Ghana with 280 megawatts of capacity started to produce electricity in March 2017, he explained.
'We will increase the capacity of the power plant in Ghana from 280 megawatts to 370 megawatts,' Uygun said.
He explained that the capacity of the Madagascar power plant will also rise from 66 megawatts to 120 megawatts, and consequently, the plant will be able to meet 61 percent of Madagascar's electricity needs.
'2018 will be the year that we will start to see the fruits of our labor. We will increase foreign currency inflow in Turkey starting from this year,' he affirmed
The company's total installed electricity production capacity in African countries is 386 megawatts.
Uygun said that the company is still interested in expanding their business in the African continent and have contacts with 20 more countries in the African continent for new investments.
On the company's home ground, Aksa Energy still produces electricity through its gas plant in Antalya with 1,150 megawatts of capacity, considered a high efficiency plant.
However, the company prefers to relocate the smaller and less efficient plants with smaller capacities and less efficiency to regions that can benefit from electricity production.
Aksa Energy has a total of 1,697 megawatts of installed capacity in Turkey including smaller plants with 147 megawatts in Sanliurfa and 115 megawatts in Manisa. It also has a decommissioned power plant in Van.
The company also has a 153-megawatt gas power plant in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The total installed capacity of the company in Turkey and abroad is 2,236 megawatts in nine power plants.
By Nuran Erkul
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr