Turkey, which conducts wind turbine manufacturing as supply industry, needs more than manufacturing in order to raise the bar.

The statement that İsmet Turan, energy expert of Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) made in the ?Panel on the Manufacture and Design of Wind Turbines and Equipments by Using Domestic Sources? organized by Istanbul Chamber of Industry last week, was enough to draw attentions to the opportunities for Turkey in the area of turbines.  After Turan stated that there would be an investment of 390 billion euros between the years 2000-2030 and that there were significant opportunities, the industrialists started to become excited.  As the excitement gave its locality to curiosity by and by, certain things began to become clearer in minds. As the interest of the audience also showed, the wind turbines, which become more important thanks to the wind energy in the world and in Turkey as well, are attracting interest from investors day by day. However, 70 % of the power plants set up in Turkey can be carried out by means of domestic contributions. The vernacularization of the remaining 30 % part is quite important for Turkey which is planning to set up big numbers of wind power plants. In addition, the actual opportunity for the sector is that the demand for these equipments are very high in the world. The factor that turns this demand of the world into a great opportunity for Turkey is that the required components for these equipments are manufactured in Turkey. Turkey manufactures these components as supply industry; therefore, if Turkish industrialist steers toward the final product, the profit will be folded.  Yet, while doing this, the industrialist has to be prepared for competition and has to choose the right model of business; because the conditions are changing so fast in the global competition.   
THE OUTSIDE MARKET OPPORTUNITY
It could be said that internal market is the primary opportunity for the sector when it is considered that Turkey needs investments that generate electricity especially from domestic sources. Other factors that increase the opportunities in the internal sector are the purchase guarantee that is given pursuant to the code of law related to the use of renewable energy sources and such variants as the capacity factor that is higher than other countries (35-40 %). However, when we look at the outside markets for the condition of wind turbine, it could be observed that here the opportunities are as attractive as those in the internal market. Zeki Aybar Eris: 'We are also planning to enter into the business of turbine manufacture if we can double our investments.'

According to the figures of Europe Wind Energy Association, by the year 2030, 320 billion euro will have been invested in this sector in Europe. The Europe wind turbine market, which grew by 23 % in 2006, is likely to grow even more thanks to the countries? policy of decreasing the external dependence in energy sector and carbon trade following the Kyoto in the fight against the global warming. In the light of these indicators, manufacture of wind turbine comes first in the fields of investments for the industrialist; however, it is not very easy to enter into this sector. The companies that are to compete with the big companies needs to draw their plan of competition in a well-organized manner. Zeki Aybar Eris, CEO of Polat Energy Incsays that ?In order to compete with the world, one should make a complete turn-key of turbine and give the guarantee of maintenance, repair and spare parts for at least 10 years.? He also adds that, ?The rate of power plant investments executed currently causes damage to the facility investments that can manufacture for the internal market. Therefore, first of all, one should support the power plant investments and then support the manufacturing facilities related to them.?

FINAL PRODUCT IS ACTUALLY EASY
The fact that there is already an available supply industry for the area of wind turbine in Turkey is actually a very good advantage for the companies that want to conduct final manufacturing. The wind turbine manufacturers in Europe already obtain final products by using the equipments produced by Turkish industry. Osman İpek, Director General of İpek Energy GmbH which gives the service of international energy consultancy to the countries such as Germany, Pakistan, says that ?Wind turbines generally are made ?packaging? by the manufacturers. The manufacturer purchases the wings from a wing manufacturer who sells to the market and buys the gear case from another manufacturer in accordance with the charts presented to him/her by his/her R&D department, and trades off these products as a single product after packaging them.? He adds that ?Manufacturing can be conducted easily by obtaining a turbine manufacturing license and the related know-how from a company that gives manufacturing licence.?
|BWT| Yavuz Tortum