Energo-Pro invests $800 million in two new Turkish hydropower plants

The Czech energy group Energo-Pro has successfully passed the necessary tests and received permission to start operation of two newly built hydroelectric power plants in Turkey — Karakurt and Alpaslan 2. Both power plants are already connected to the grid and their commercial operation has begun.

This is the largest Czech investment in hydropower since November 1989.

The new dam with hydroelectric power plant Karakurt is located in the basin of the Arras River. Three Francis turbines with a total installed capacity of 99.5 MW will be installed at the power plant. The first has already been installed, while the other two units will be released in November and December. The water area of the dam will be 14 km2, and the dam with earth-filling with an asphalt core will reach a height of 137 meters. For the construction of the dam, Energo-Pro used 6.4 million cubic meters of excavated rock, which represents 360,000 loaded trucks. Subsequently, a total of 30,500 cubic meters of asphalt mixture were used for the asphalt core.

An even larger and impressive new dam with the Alpaslan 2 hydroelectric power plant built on it is located on the Murat River. Four Francis turbines with a total installed capacity of 280 MW will be installed at the hydroelectric power plant. The first unit has been installed, and the remaining three will be released in December and February. The water area of the dam is 55 km2. Energo-Pro started the construction of the dam in September 2018 and completed it within two years. The volume of the body of the dam is 9.05 million cubic meters. The construction work was carried out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and up to 1,900 workers participated in the construction.

The total investment in the two new hydroelectric power plants with dams exceeds US $800 million.

Hydropower plants are currently the most important source of low-emission and renewable energy. They supply almost 17% of the world's electricity and about 70% of renewable electricity. Energo-Pro is the largest Czech company investing in hydropower for more than 25 years. After connecting the two new Turkish power plants, the company will operate a total of 38 hydroelectric power plants in 4 countries around the world.