IFC to invest in Tukey’s Gama Enerji

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has announced plans to invest in Tukey’s Gama Enerji a wind and hydropower plant operator headquartered in Turkey with operational assets in Turkey and Jordan.

IFC is considering to invest €170 million (US$217 million). The purpose is to invest in secondary shares of Gama Enerji and to subscribe to share capital increases of the company in order to provide equity for the pipeline projects that are expected to materialize in the next 2-3 years. According to IFC, Gama enerji plans to invest around US$1.3 billion.

The projects are:

• 45 MW wind farm in western Turkey’s Manisa province
• 10 MW wind farm in the province of Balikesir
• 200 MW wind farm in the Istanbul province
• 840 MW combined cycle power plant in central Turkey (under construction)

Gama Enerji is owned by General Electric Energy Financial (50%) and Gama Holding (50%). In early March General Electric Energy Financial announced plans to apply to the competition board to seek approval for the transfer of its 50% stake in the firm. IFC will start the equity investments after General Electric Energy Financial exits the firm.

GE Energy Financial Services had bought its 50% stake in Gama Enerji in 2007 and had announced plans to invest about US$4 billion until 2015 to build 3,000 MW of power plants in Turkey and the Middle East.

Gama Enerji is currently operating 724.9 MW of hydropower from three plants, 69.75 MW of wind power from three facilities and the Disi water conveyance project in Jordan under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession contract with the government of Jordanian.