Antalya Elmalı 60 MW Remote Offset Solar Power Plant
Elmalı, a utility-scale photovoltaic solar park connected through the utility grid, with an installed capacity of 60 MW, was implemented by Özaltın Hotel Establishments Inc. on a land covering 85 hectares in a single location in Elmalı district in Antalya province, Türkiye. The project included the design, building, financing, operation, and management of the entire power station. The field was selected based on the availability of the highest solar radiation zones in Türkiye.
Groundbreaking, with partial vegetation removal, soil grading, and leveling, was held in March 2023. Construction involved 60,000 meters of hole-drilling for the installation of the galvanized vertical steel piles, as well as the ground mounting of a total of 110,000 half-cut, bifacial, monocrystalline photovoltaic (PV) panels with 154 inverters, and a total of a 6-kilometers long high-fidelity cable laying. For power management, a 170-kV switchyard with 11 transformers, and a 5-kilometer long, 170-kV high-voltage overhead powerline were built as an integral part of the project to transport the generated electrical power to the national transmission network system. Following project construction completion on 10 July 2023, the solar power plant was tested and commissioned in August 2023 and started officially producing clean electricity. This renewable energy farm is expected to generate an average output of 100 GWh per annum, which will offset approximately 63,450 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted per year.
Essentially, this solar farm initiative was developed to meet the 50 million kWh of electricity demand by Özaltın Hotel Establishments Inc. While it operates as an offset plant, it effectively serves their self-consumption needs. All energy produced will be exported to the national grid and Özaltın Hotel Establishments Inc. will notably benefit by shifting to solar power consumption, while the estimated excess 50 million kWh produced power will be sold to the Turkish Electricity Market.