The foundation of DORA-3 was laid with the participation of Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız and Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Şahin.
MB Holding, which has pioneered technology and innovations by signing many firsts in the fields of construction, textile, energy, ready-mixed concrete, perlite and greenhouse farming for over 40 years and established Turkey’s first private geothermal power plant, laid the foundations of the 3rd geothermal power plant DORA-3, which will provide service with an installed capacity of 34 MWe (megawatts), in Aydın with the participation of Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız and Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Şahin.
The groundbreaking ceremony held by Menderes Geothermal Elektrik Üretim A.Ş. in the Salavatlı Town of Sultanhisar was attended by ministers, former Minister of Culture and Tourism Atilla Koç, Aydın Governor Kerem Al, AK Party Aydın Deputies Mehmet Erdem, Ali Gültekin Kılınç and Semiha Öyüş, MHP Aydın Deputy Ali Uzunırmak, Aydın Adnan Menderes University Rector Mustafa Birincioğlu, former deputy Mehmet Bozgeyik, district governors, district mayors, AK Party Gaziantep Provincial Chairman Ahmet Uzer, MTA General Manager Mehmet Üzer and MB Holding Chairman of the Board of Directors Muharrem Balat.
“We Reduced Foreign Exchange Inputs”
MB Holding Board Chairman Muharrem Balat, who stated that Menderes Geothermal Electricity Generation Inc. meets the increasing demand for electrical energy parallel to economic development with alternative, environmentally friendly, renewable and sustainable resources, said; “Following DORA-1, Turkey’s first geothermal power plant built in Aydın with an installed capacity of 8.5 megawatts, and DORA-2 with an installed capacity of 11.5 megawatts, today we are laying the foundation of DORA-3 with a capacity of 34 megawatts.
As MB Holding, we believe that our investments in geothermal fields will have many social benefits. In addition to evaluating the potential of geothermal fields with power plant investments, we have brought dynamism to the Turkish economy. In addition to air pollution, we have also reduced foreign exchange inputs spent for oil. With the electrical energy produced from DORA facilities, approximately 25,000,000.-USD will not be spent annually in exchange for natural gas and/or oil products.”
Yıldız: “Our New Energy Source is Renewable Geothermal Energy”
Starting his speech by touching on the importance they give to renewable energy resources, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız said; “We said that we would give importance to our domestic resources, our renewable energy resources. This project is one of the most important. When we say domestic resources, we used to say coal. Now we also know about renewable energy resources. Aydın is the first in Europe and the seventh in the world in terms of geothermal energy capacity. In many places, there is actually a stance against our domestic resources, not only our domestic resources but also our development, with some manipulations that are made outside of our citizens’ common sense, foresight and sagacity. I am saying this with the excuse of those who naively pick up pots and pans from time to time, we know that these are managed by some lobbies even in Europe. We will not fall for this game. Aydın did not fall for this game. A geothermal tender of 488 million dollars has been held since 2007. 350 million dollars of this is in Aydın. When all these works are completed, 150 million will be transferred to the Governorship and Special Administration. The local government will make investment decisions with this money.”
Şahin: “We Will Continue Our Union of Forces”
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Şahin said; “In order to achieve sustainable development, we need to use all resources together with economic development. We all know that there is a lot to be done regarding energy as the quality of life of human beings increases. When we set out, we said that we would carry out the development move by using all the resources of our country, now we have come to that stage. We have not been able to use the energy resources. The wind blew and we looked. We have not been able to use the water resources.
We first established the legal infrastructure. There was no mining law. It was governed by the quarry regulation. We changed this first. The happiness of the family is due to the positive energy of the family. We will continue this unity of forces.” and congratulated the entrepreneurial businessman Muharrem Balat from Gaziantep for his successful work.
Rice Was Spread For Abundance
Following the speeches, ministers sprinkled rice for the DORA-3 geothermal power plant, where the groundbreaking ceremony was held, for it to be fruitful. After the ceremony, experts in geothermal energy from the employees of Menderes Geothermal Electricity Generation Inc., which is part of MB Holding, informed the participants about “Geothermal Energy in Turkey” and “Benefits of Geothermal Energy”.
