The Metropolitan Municipality, which has implemented projects that will carry Bursa into the future, has also covered a significant distance in the use of renewable energy resources in order to re-name the city, which has moved away from its green identity, as 'Green Bursa'. Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş said, "We take our energy from nature and spend it for Bursa."
While the consequences of global warming are among the problems of increasing importance in Turkey as well as in the rest of the world; Environmental factors such as climate changes, air, water and soil pollution have become a common problem not only for countries but also for the world. Bursa, where the highest industrial exports take place after Istanbul, has its share of pollution in parallel with industrialization; Within the scope of combating climate change, the Metropolitan Municipality has started to meet its energy needs from natural resources such as wind, water and sun, while focusing on environmental investments on the one hand.
Stations energy storage
The Metropolitan Municipality, which produces electricity with the solar panels placed on the treatment plants and water tanks of BUSKI, with the aim of providing the consumption from renewable energy sources, has added metro stops in the city to its Solar Power Plant (GES) projects. In cooperation with the Metropolitan Municipality and TEK Energy, a power plant with an annual capacity of approximately 30 megawatts was installed on the roof of 2 Bursaray stations. Energy production started at 30 stations where the installation was completed. While the contractor firm undertakes the additional costs such as installation, commissioning, UEDAŞ acceptance, 10-year maintenance-repair, insurance, warranty, system operating cost, project cost, application fees, the system will be completely transferred to Burulaş after 10 years. Pursuant to the contract, a revenue sharing model from production for 10 years will be applied to Burulaş. With the energy obtained from the sun in a total of 30 stations, 47 percent of the station's internal needs are met from solar energy. Based on a 10-year period, 45 million kilowatt-hours of the stations' energy needs of 21 million kilowatt-hours will be met from the sun, thus saving 17 million TL.
In addition to the metro stations, within the scope of the project; A total of 4.4 megawatts of SPP investment will be installed on the roof of the metropolitan new service building and open parking lot, Merinos Atatürk Congress and Culture Center and Bursa Science and Technology Center, and 1,8 megawatts on the roof of Muradiye Water Factory.
Electricity from garbage
While putting into service the investments that will add value to Bursa, the Metropolitan Municipality, which has implemented important works on the efficient use of energy resources and orientation to renewable energy sources, has covered a significant distance. While electricity is produced from methane gas in the facility, which started its operations in 2012 in Yenikent solid waste storage area, electricity is produced with a power of 9,8 megawatts per hour, equivalent to the energy needs of 47 thousand residences. Since 2012, approximately 510.692.496 kilowatts of electricity has been produced, converting 254.322.100 cubic meters of gas into energy without mixing with the atmosphere.
Energy of 75 thousand houses
Finally, the Metropolitan Municipality, which brought the Eastern Region Integrated Solid Waste Facility to the city with the build-operate-transfer model, both produces electrical energy and reduces the amount of waste going to the site by half with this project. After the mixed municipal wastes coming to the facility are sorted 'according to their type' in the mechanical separation facility, the organic wastes are taken to the biogas facility and electricity is produced from methane gas. Residual wastes are sent to the landfill, wastes with calorific value are sent to the 'waste-derived' fuel preparation facility, and recyclable wastes are sent to licensed companies. Thanks to these processes, there is a 50 percent reduction in the amount of waste going to the site. With the commissioning of the first tank in the biogas plant, approximately 2 megawatts of energy is still produced per hour. By the end of the year, the energy production capacity will reach approximately 10 megawatts/hour and with the landfill gas obtained from the landfill, 12 megawatts/hour energy will be produced, meeting the energy needs of approximately 75 thousand houses.
Waste sludge turns into energy
With the sludge incineration plant, which was designed by BUSKİ and built in the Eastern Wastewater Treatment Plant and started production in 2018, the sludge from the treatment is converted into energy. In the first incineration facility in Turkey with a daily capacity of 400 tons, the sludge from 11 advanced treatment facilities within the Metropolitan is completely burned. Since the plant was commissioned, approximately 500 thousand tons of sludge has been disposed of in this way, and an important environmental problem has been eliminated. Last year, 101 million 456 thousand kilowatt-hours of electrical energy was produced by burning 13 thousand 680 tons of sludge at the facility, while the total electrical energy produced so far has reached approximately 60 million kilowatt-hours. Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş stated that they have gained approximately 9.5 million TL by using 5.5 million kilowatt-hours of this production in treatment facilities, and said, “When we consider that 1 house consumes an average of 150 kilowatt-hours of energy per month, we produce electrical energy equivalent to the consumption of 51 thousand 689 households in this facility every day. We see the environment not as the legacy of our ancestors, but as the trust of our children, and we are working hard to protect the trust in the best way possible.
Example HEPPs for Turkey
In addition, the Metropolitan Municipality established a model for Turkey by establishing HEPPs at the entrance of the d0, d13 and d12-2 water tanks, where the water from the Doğancı Dam of BUSKİ is transferred after being treated at the Dobruca Treatment Facilities. The Metropolitan Municipality, which produces electrical energy by utilizing the power of the water flowing in the main transmission lines that bring water to the city, built HEPPs on the d0, d13 and d12-2 water tanks, respectively. Again, electricity generation from the sun started with the western treatment, eastern treatment and SPP investments deployed on the d46, d12-2, water tanks belonging to BUSKİ. With the investment of 3 HEPPs and 4 SPPs established on the main transmission lines, BUSKİ has come to meet 15 percent of its annual energy needs. From the date of commissioning, 56.664.071 kWh of electrical energy has been produced in these power plants. In the upcoming period, 5 more HEPPs and 3 more GES facilities will be implemented by BUSKİ.
“We are taking important steps”
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş said that efficient use of resources is vital in meeting vital needs such as energy, health, transportation and communication. Expressing that energy is one of the reasons for Turkey's current account deficit, Mayor Aktaş said, “Our cities have great responsibilities for full independence in energy. As Bursa, we are taking very important steps in this regard. As Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, we apply different alternatives such as solar energy, hydroelectric and wind power plants to our city and take institutional steps in terms of renewable energy. With the solar power plants we apply to the metro stations, we will meet 47 percent of the domestic consumption used in the stations from the sun. Production has started at our two stations, installation has been completed at our remaining 28 stations and production will begin soon.”
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