Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı said, “The solar energy system we built on the water reservoir is a clean energy. It is 10 percent more efficient than land-based energy systems. Of course, these reservoirs will be built with a certain planning. “The solar energy systems to be built will also reduce the pressure on land space needs.” said.
Minister Yumaklı, who went to Elazığ to participate in various programs and make visits, inspected Turkey's first floating solar power plant (SPP), which was built at the Keban Dam in the Beşevler hamlet of Fatmalı village of the center.
In his statement to the press after his inspections, Minister Yumaklı said that they visited the provinces and that today they were in Elazığ, one of the most important provinces for agricultural production.
“IT WILL ALSO REDUCE THE PRESSURE REGARDING THE NEED FOR SPACE ON LAND”
Stating that the Keban Dam in Elazığ is one of the important water reservoirs for electricity generation and irrigation, Yumaklı stated that they continue to develop projects to popularize irrigation projects in the country and said:
“For irrigation projects, especially when we consider the area we are in now, these irrigations need to be done with a pumping system, that is, with energy, due to the elevation between the areas to be irrigated by the dam. This means an additional cost of approximately 40 percent. Our friends started an R&D study on this. In Turkey, solar energy system installation on water reservoirs has been done on a small scale several times before. However, it is not yet ready to provide electricity to the system. As a result of R&D work, the area we are in has been made capable of providing electricity to the system. By supplying 1 megawatt of electricity to the system, the 2 megawatt solar energy system on land has been integrated and now provides energy for approximately half of the irrigation in this area.”
“WE ARE CONDUCTING WORK TO SPREAD THE PROJECT NATIONWIDE”
Noting that the system is important, Yumaklı said, “The solar energy system we built on the water reservoir is a clean energy. It is 10 percent more efficient than land-based energy systems. Of course, these reservoirs will be built with a certain planning. “The solar energy systems to be built will also reduce the pressure on land space needs.” he said.
Minister Yumaklı stated that they are working in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to disseminate this throughout the country.
“Of course, all water reservoirs, dams and ponds in Turkey, except for drinking water, must be at a certain level. When we use even 10 percent of it, it has the potential to meet 4/1 of Turkey's annual electricity needs. Of course, this issue is a theoretical issue.” Using the expressions, Yumaklı stated that they will continue to work to develop this, based on the successful example in practice.
Minister Yumaklı concluded his speech as follows:
“We will provide all the energy needs with an additional 3 megawatt installation, especially for Kuzova pumped irrigation. For the next period, we will continue to develop this project, especially considering the impact of climate change and the serious contribution this system will make regarding the evaporation of water. Especially after a certain stage, all of the irrigation systems we make are closed irrigation systems. Of course, we are trying to increase our production by ensuring the contribution of water, which is very important for agriculture, to productivity. However, if there is a need for electrical energy due to the difference in elevation, as in these areas, we will hopefully focus on irrigation projects in the next period along with these applications. I wish good luck to Elazığ, where the pilot implementation of this important project was carried out, and to our entire country.”