OREANDA-NEWS. Toshiba Corporation has won a major order to supply a flash steam turbine system and generator for the Kizildere III Geothermal Power Plant in Turkey. Zorlu Energy, an independent power producer and member of Turkey’s Zorlu Energy Group, will construct the plant in Kizildere, in the Aydin province of West Anatolia, Turkey, approximately 150 km from the Aegean Sea and Toshiba will deliver the generation equipment in December this year.

Energy consumption in Turkey is growing fast, driven by population growth and economic development—estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicate that demand will be more than double in the next decade. The Turkish government is responding by promoting capacity expansion, targeting 2,500MW of geothermal power generation capacity in 2023 against the current 620MW. Most plants will be built in the geothermal-rich Aegean Region, in the west of the country. Toshiba, with Zorlu Energy Group, will continue to cooperate in developing Turkey’s power sector, and aims to expand its business not only in geothermal power but also in the thermal, and hydro power generation sectors.

Kizildere III is a major project, a 95MW, high-efficiency triple flash combined-cycle geothermal power plant, one of the largest built in Europe and the Middle East. The plant will integrate two systems: 72MW flash steam generation system that uses steam under high pressure; plus an approximately 23MW binary cycle power generation system that uses flash turbine exhaust steam to vaporize a working fluid with a lower boiling point and use it to drive a turbine. Toshiba will supply the flash steam turbine generator system, and the binary system will be supplied by US-based Ormat Technologies, Inc., who is also Toshiba’s partner in other geothermal projects under a strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) signed last October.

Toshiba won an order for the flash power generation system for Alasehir Geothermal Power Plant in 2013, which was also built by Zorlu Energy Group. Due to the reliability of Toshiba’s equipment and the company’s efficient manufacturing process, the plant was put into commercial operation ahead of schedule in September last year. Toshiba’s performance was highly evaluated by Zorlu Energy Group, which led to the major order to supply a flash steam turbine and generator for this project.

Toshiba, together with Ormat Technologies, Inc. that combines industry-leading capabilities in flash steam power generation system and binary cycle power generation systems, will continue to promote comprehensive proposals for optimal, high-efficiency combined-cycle geothermal plants that match local geothermal characteristics and resources in Turkey and in the wider Middle East and East Africa, where electricity demand is expected to increase in the future.