en.Wedoany.com Reported - Turkey's western province of Manisa plans to build a 200-hectare advanced technology geothermal greenhouse industrial zone. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry established a legal entity for the industrial zone at the end of last month. Once fully operational, the project is expected to employ 3,500 people and produce 80,000 to 96,000 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables annually.

Turkey has global leading strengths in both geothermal energy and agriculture, and the trend of combining the two has become increasingly evident in recent years. High-temperature geothermal water is primarily used for power generation, while residual heat and lower-temperature sources can be utilized for various purposes such as greenhouse heating.

Regional authorities have not disclosed the specific financial details of the project, only noting that the annual contribution value of the investment is 2.5 billion to 3 billion Turkish lira, equivalent to 46.6 million to 56 million euros. The Manisa provincial government stated that the goal is to make the region one of the main centers for geothermal greenhouses in Turkey.

According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, as of May, the total installed capacity of geothermal power plants in the country was 1.8 GW, accounting for 1.4% of the national total power generation capacity. Domestic company Margün Energy is conducting lithium resource exploration in geothermal water, while also planning to combine power generation with greenhouse heating projects.