EU Support to Zorlu Energy's Energy Storage Project

Zorlu Energy was entitled to receive funding from the GeoSmart project within the scope of the Horizon 2020 Program, the largest research and innovation program of the EU, with Kızıldere 1 Geothermal Power Plant for the studies to be carried out in the field of energy storage and became one of the 19 partner organizations in 8 countries. Kızıldere 1 Power Plant, where energy storage works will be initiated in order to ensure the security of supply of the electricity network, to activate the storage system in case of excessive need and to ensure that the electricity generation systems and district heating systems can work in harmony simultaneously, has succeeded in becoming one of the two demo sites together with the Belmatt field in Belgium. Today, in the energy sector, the storage and efficient use of energy as well as its production has become a topic of discussion on a global scale. Zorlu Energy, which is a pioneer in its sector with its exemplary way of doing business in all areas in which it operates, has been included in the Horizon 2020 Program, which is the largest research and innovation program of the EU and will be implemented between 2014 and 2020, with the "GeoSmart Project", which includes energy storage studies and has been determined as the demo site of Kızıldere 1 Geothermal Power Plant. With the project to be realized with the fund received within the scope of Horizon 2020, which allocates 5.9 billion euros of funds to projects that can be an example in the global sense on the foundations of reliable, clean and efficient energy in the field of energy; In case of instant interruptions and high electricity demand that may occur in the network, it is aimed to store the energy required for the continuation of electricity production and to maintain the efficiency of electricity transmission to the network in order to produce electricity and heat. At the same time, within the scope of the project, cooperation with METU and Kadir Has Universities is planned for hybrid model work that will be carried out through computer modeling and will provide infrastructure for future biomass and solar energy projects. Why Kızıldere 1? The Horizon 2020 program aims to involve the private sector in energy efficiency processes and strengthen university-industry cooperation. In this context, cooperation, partnership and funding supports are provided in different sectors. Kızıldere 1 power plant, which is a combined heat and power plant, will be one of the globally demo power plants for the sector by receiving EU support on providing the heat need of Sarayköy district with the geothermal fluids left over from the cycle of the facility while producing electricity. The GeoSmart project, adopted for Horizon 2020, aims to apply high-performance renewable energy technologies to Combined Heat-Power (CHP) facilities and store the generated energy for a while. Approximately 900,000 euros of the 20 million euro budget set for this purpose will be transferred to the Kızıldere 1 Power Plant. The remaining budget will be distributed among 19 different partners in 8 different countries. The project, which will start coordination works in April, will move to the field applications stage after 18 months and will be completed within 4 years.