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Turkey’s solar panel maker Smart Solar Technologies plans to set up a solar panel and cell manufacturing plant in Bulgaria, Bulgarian News Agency reported last week. Bulgaria's Council of Ministers approved an MoU between the government and the Turkish solar panel for the project which it described as a “priority investment project”.
What we know: The plant, set to be built in southeastern Bulgaria’s Elenino Village, will see the Turkish firm invest BGN 240 mn (c. USD 137.3 mn) in tangible and intangible assets. Its output will be directed as exports to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Austria. No timeline was disclosed for the project.
About the company: Founded in 2014 in Istanbul, Smart Solar Technologies manufactures solar photovoltaic modules and offers a range of services including financing, EPC turnkey installation, engineering, project development, and EV charging solutions, according to its website. The company has two production bases in Turkey and was listed on the BIST50 Board of the Istanbul Stock Exchange in 2023.
REMEMBER- Turkey’s expanding its solar portfolio at home: Credit agencies UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Poland’s KUKE guaranteed earlier this month a EUR 249 mn loan for Turkish renewable energy company Kalyon Enerji to fund the construction of Turkey’s second-largest solar project. The 390 MW farm will be located across seven separate sites in Bor-Nigde, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa-Viransehir regions. Over EUR 122 mn of the loan will be reinsured by KUKE.
And projects abroad: Turkish utility giant Yildirim Energy plans to develop a 109 MW solar PV plant to power its ferronickel plants in Eastern Europe’s Kosovo. The plant will be the first by the company in Kosovo. Turkish energy company Fides Elektrik Enerjisi is set to construct two solar PV plants with a total capacity of 8 MW in North Macedonia’s Directorate for Technological Industrial Development Zones (TIDZ). The projects will be developed under a 25-year public-private partnership (PPP) contract, with Fides allocating 10% of revenues to the government.
