Entering the sector in 1996 by taking part in the construction of Türkiye’s first wind power plant, Doğuhan Enerji offers turnkey services in the fields of road, platform and foundation construction, electrical and cabling works, substation installation, control building construction, and overhead line construction for wind energy projects. Having worked with the same care and precision on projects of every scale in Türkiye, from 1 MW to over 100 MW, and having grown through the reference projects it has delivered by participating in many of the largest and most important projects in the market, the company has completed the construction of more than 1,500 turbines and delivered over 2,500 MW of capacity throughout its 28-year sector history, during which it has taken part in more than 200 projects. In addition to its core business of wind power projects, Doğuhan Enerji has also been undertaking solar power plant projects on a global scale for the past 3 years and continues its operations in Romania, Germany, Hungary, and Italy through its Romania-based company, Helios Energy. Having started making new machinery investments in 2024 and continuing these investments in the new year, the company aims to grow its domestic and international operations by 20% in 2025.
Murat Kavak, Deputy General Manager of Doğuhan Enerji, with whom we conducted the interview, shares with Wind Energy Magazine the company’s journey of more than 28 years, its activities, and its goals.
First of all, could you introduce yourself and Doğuhan Enerji?
I started my career 19 years ago in industrial project logistics. For more than 5 years, I worked in the field of providing special logistics solutions on a global scale for all kinds of power plant projects. As of 2011, I began working in the renewable energy sector with Enercon. After a long career at Enercon, I spent 6 years involved in the management of the transport-crane-installation operational processes of wind power plants, which we refer to as TCI, one through my own venture and the other as Türkiye Country Director for a leading Greek company in its field. As of 2023, I joined Doğuhan Enerji and serve as the Deputy General Manager of the company.
Doğuhan Enerji took part in the construction of Türkiye’s first wind power plant in 1996 and is one of the leading players in the sector in its own field. In this journey of more than 28 years, we have completed the construction of more than 1,500 turbines in over 200 projects, with a total capacity exceeding 2,500 MW. We work with the same care and precision on projects of every scale in Türkiye, from 1 MW to over 100 MW. We are strengthening and carrying our cooperation into the future with all the leading wind turbine manufacturers and investors in the sector. Behind our stable growth lies our responsible commitment to our undertakings and the trust this creates among the companies we work with.
You offer a variety of services in many areas of renewable energy. Could you elaborate on these solutions and share detailed information about the services you provide to the wind energy sector?
We are constantly striving to develop and expand our field of activity in the renewable energy sector. In addition to our main area of business, wind power plant construction, we have also been carrying out solar power plant construction works globally for the past 3 years. However, due to the market structure in Türkiye in this field, unless there is a large-scale project, we would like to continue focusing on wind power plant construction works. We provide services in the fields of road, platform and foundation construction, electrical and cabling works, substation installation, control building construction, and overhead line construction for wind energy projects. In short, we are able to offer turnkey all the services listed above in the sector, except for transportation, crane, and installation works provided by the turbine company within the scope of project management.
In addition to the wind power plant construction services you provide in Türkiye, you also provide services in different areas of renewable energy globally. Could you tell us about these activities abroad?
Being involved in overseas projects has always been part of our vision, and from time to time we had taken some steps for this. However, we took our most concrete step at the beginning of 2022 by establishing our Helios Energy company in Romania. We undertook the construction and installation works of the 155 MW Ratești Project, which was the largest solar power plant in Eastern Europe until its construction was completed, and completed it in a record time of 8 months. We are able to deliver turnkey projects from start to finish in the solar power plant sector. We can provide services at every stage, from construction and foundation works to mechanical and electrical works, and even to substation, SCADA, and commissioning processes. With our completed and ongoing projects within 3 years, we have reached a total business portfolio of 600 MW, and with these figures, we can say that we have achieved the fastest growth in the sector. For 2025, the total of wind and solar power plant agreements completed globally as of today reaches 210 MW. Our activities abroad are not limited to Romania; we also continue our operations in Germany, Hungary, and Italy.
As a company that took part in Türkiye’s first wind power plant, could you tell us about the completed projects you have been involved in so far? How many projects have you participated in, what kinds of solutions did you provide to these projects, in which regions were the projects located, and what total capacity did you provide solutions for?
On this journey that we continue today under the management of second-generation Batuhan Bey, when we look back, we are faced with a great picture of success. While this is a great source of pride for us, it is also a great responsibility; because we no longer have the chance to be average, and we always have a mission to be better. For this, we work with great effort and dedication as a whole team. To date, we have had the opportunity to work on the construction of more than 1,500 turbines in more than 200 projects. We are talking about a business portfolio that exceeds a total capacity of 2,500 MW. We can say that we have been involved in project processes in almost every region of Türkiye. In short, we are wherever the wind is.
Could you talk about how you spent 2024 and mention the projects you completed and the ones still ongoing?
The projects completed and delivered during the year have a capacity of approximately 250 MW with around 50 turbines. These projects are investments belonging to Türkiye’s leading energy companies, especially Kalyon Enerji, Polat Enerji, and Akfen Enerji. Therefore, we can say that 2024 has been a truly busy year for us. Although the regions where the projects we worked on are located have serious challenges due to their climatic and topographic characteristics, each of them has turned into a separate success story thanks to the dedicated work of our teams. Our only priority right now is to duly deliver the projects we are nearing completion on to the relevant investors and to start our new projects in 2025 without slowing down.
Our country, which has announced new targets in renewable energy, is also increasing its installation targets in wind energy. In this process, strengthened by moves such as the new YEKA and the “super permit” mechanism, could you talk about Doğuhan Enerji’s 2025 targets and future expectations?
We consider the new initiatives in the field of renewable energy in Türkiye, which have been ongoing for 15 years and continue without slowing down, to be promising. Within the framework of the government’s current energy policies, we all see today that the openings made in the field of renewable energy have had an undeniably positive effect on the energy sector. We understand that these breakthroughs will continue with the new YEKA and the “super permit” mechanism, and as Doğuhan Enerji, we make our moves accordingly. We are not only increasing our experienced and qualified workforce in the sector, but also making investments in machinery and equipment and taking initiatives to increase our business capacity. We are determined in our goal of expanding both our operations in Türkiye and globally in 2025 and beyond. In this context, as we have stated, we have started making new machinery investments domestically and abroad, and we will continue this in 2025. Our goal is to grow our operations in Türkiye and abroad by 20% in 2025. For this, we started our work as of the last quarter of 2024.
As Wind Energy Magazine, which started publication in 2014, we are celebrating our 10th year with the first issue of 2025. Evaluating these 10 years, during which we have witnessed many breakthroughs in the sector, could you share your expectations regarding the next 10 years of the sector?
First of all, I would like to congratulate you on this success and state that the services you have provided to the sector are valuable for everyone. If we are to evaluate the past 10 years of the sector, a good point has been reached in terms of infrastructure and supply processes within the sector. The dedication of our investors, despite the difficult economic imbalances and uncertainties our country has gone through, in accessing financing when necessary and in many other challenging stages, has played an important role in the development of the sector and the continued increase of investments.
It is clear that the Feed-in Tariff mechanism until 2020 particularly increased diversity and activity between 2015 and 2020 by enabling opportunities to include small and medium-scale investors in the game. For the next 10 years, we hope that there will be an even stronger investment process with the support of our public institutions and our state. Türkiye is a country with very strong potential in terms of energy policies and the renewable energy sector within this. Together with storage projects and YEKA investments, we think that investments will continue to increase in the coming years and that Türkiye will once again enter a rapid investment process as of 2026. Accordingly, we are trying to improve ourselves and increase our service quality and capacity.