SABANCI EXPLORING INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Türkiye’s second-biggest conglomerate, the Sabanci Group, is considering international partnerships for strengthening energy management and manufacturing operations to reduce its reliance on the banking business.

Sabancı Holding reported revenue of 48 billion liras ($17.6 billion) and net income of 2.2 billion liras in 2015. It controls a fifth of the Turkish electricity market, handling everything from power generation to sales with German partner E.ON. It also operates supermarkets with French partner Carrefour.

Banking operations account for around 45 percent of the conglomerate’s total assets.

The company aims to increase the share of its energy and industrial businesses to 40-45 percent.

ENERJISA TUFANBEYLI THERMAL POWER PLANT INAGURATED

Enerjisa Tufanbeyli Thermal Power Plant is situated in the Tufanbeyli district of Adana, built by the Sabancı Group is inagurated.

Enerjisa Tufanbeyli Thermal Power Plant costed $1.1 billion, has a capacity of 450 megawatt. The power plant will meet the electricity need of 1.5 million residences by using coal equivalent to $6 billion worth of natural gas.

Over 4500 people worked in the construction of the power plant and 1000 people will work to operate it. It is the biggest privately-owned lignite power plant in Türkiye. The power plant will produce energy in accordance with international standards thanks to its environment-friendly technology.

The material handling systems of the power plant has been designed and built by the Spanish Company PHB Weserhütte.

TCDD TASIMACILIK A.S. WAITING FOR APPROVAL

There left only one step before foundation of new train operator company, TCDD Tasimacilik AS. The new company will be founded after approval of Strategic Planning Council.

The passenger, logistics and maintanance sections of TCDD will be transferred to this new company. The company will be the first train operator of Türkiye, responsible for high speed trains, all main line and regional trains, suburban trains and freight trains.

TCDD Tasimacilik AS will take over the whole rolling stock of TCDD except the rail construction and maintanance machines, and start competing with private operators which can start operation soon.

SOLAR IMPULSE 2 IS READY TO FINISH ITS ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT

SOLAR IMPULSE 2 , the solar-powered airplane sidelined last year midway through a pioneering trip around the world, is finally taking flight again. The goal is to prove solar energy can send a plane around the world, no Jules Verne-style time trial needed.

Piccard and his fellow Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg have been grounded since July, when their most impressive flight—a five-day, nonstop leap from Japan to Hawaii—led to their biggest setback,frying the plane’s batteries. With a fresh pack, a new cooling system to protect it, and some valuable lessons learned, they’re ready to resume the journey. Piccard will fly Solar Impulse 2 to the west coast of the United States, destination TBD. Then it’s on to New York and across the Atlantic to Europe or North Africa before returning to Abu Dhabi,where the trip started more than a year ago.

The Turkish Offical partner of Solar Impulse is BRISA.

During the unexpected downtime, the team also worked on an unmanned version of Solar Impulse 2. An autonomous craft is smaller and lighter, and just robust enough to carry  a payload for, say, observation. Ditching the pilot has a more important upside: no need to land for food, water, and pilot sanity. An aircraft capable of remaining aloft indefinitely has obvious potential, like beaming Internet access to developing nations, tracking weather, and patrolling borders.

All that’s in the future, but Borschberg and Piccard remain convinced it will happen, and that aviation will one day abandon fossil fuel. “When I’m flying a solar airplane that can fly forever, I have the impression to be already 30 years in the future,” Piccard says. “And when I land, I have the impression to go back in the past. I say, ‘Wow, they are still using combustion engines!’”

After too many months on the ground, Piccard is climbing back into his time machine and flying into the future.