en.Wedoany.com Reported - Turkey's Aksa Energy put into operation the country's first independent battery energy storage system (BESS) last month, and officially entered the ancillary services market to support grid stability after successfully completing primary frequency control (PFC) or frequency control reserve (FCR) tests. The facility is located in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.

The project, named RASA, has an operating power of 50 MW and an energy storage capacity of 61.9 MWh. It was built by Aksa BESS, a joint venture between Aksa Jeneratör and Chinese lithium battery manufacturer EVE Energy. Founded in 1997, Aksa Energy is Turkey's largest listed independent power producer. It was included in the BIST 50 benchmark stock index of the Istanbul Stock Exchange a week ago, while remaining in the BIST 100 index. Both of the aforementioned Aksa brands are affiliated with the Kazancı Holding Group.

Earlier, Aksa Energy put the Gaziantep Pamuk solar-BESS hybrid power plant into operation. The hybrid plant is configured with a solar system with a peak capacity of 58 MW and a grid-connected capacity of 40.5 MW, along with a 48.2 MWh 1P battery energy storage system, located in Şehitkamil, Gaziantep Province. Inavitas provided the energy management system (EMS) for this plant.

Additionally, ERN Holding subsidiary Energen Enerji has hired Aksa BESS as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the Karaman DRES project. DRES projects refer to licensed wind energy storage systems with a capacity of 10 MWh or more. The project plans to build a 232 MW wind farm integrated with a 221 MW 1P battery energy storage system. Türkiye Kalkınma ve Yatırım Bankası is leading a consortium including Halkbank and Ziraat Bankası, which recently approved a financing package of EUR 250 million. China's Envision Energy will supply wind turbines for the project.

In other developments, Aksa Yenilenebilir Enerji, majority-owned by Aksa Energy, received environmental approval from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change for the Eskişehir project one month ago. The company plans to install 18 turbines with a rated capacity of 144 MW and an effective capacity of 141 MW in the Tepebaşı and Mihalgazi districts of the eponymous northwestern province. The wind farm will also be equipped with a 141 MW/141 MWh battery energy storage system.