Metcap Energy Investments, a firm believer in meeting the world's future challenges over energy, water resources and food supplies now, has been working to develop an energy production scheme which will not only optimise the use of natural resources, but will also maximise its economic output from the perspective of the project's feasibility and the country's benefits.Understanding and applying concepts such as flexibility, efficiency, water conservation and environmental impact, Metcap is developing a totally integrated electric plant in Karaman, Turkey. Part of it will look like a conventional combined-cycle gas plant, in which the natural gas is burned in a jet engine that drives a generator and the exhaust gases are used to make steam to turn a steam turbine that also drives a generator. But standing nearby is a 250-foot tower surrounded by nearly 250,000 mirrors, each about the size of a big flat-screen television. Computers keep the mirrors focused on the tower, and inside the tower, water is boiled into steam. The steam flows into the turbine along with steam from the natural gas plant.In broad outline, using the sun to boil water into steam and supplementing that with natural gas is not new. But most such projects use parabolic troughs with black pipes running down the centre. The tower design allows steam to be heated to temperatures 200 degrees higher than the troughs, which means that the system will produce far more electricity per acre. The design is rather modest on the renewables side; the plan is for 1000 megawatts of natural gas, 50 megawatts of solar power and 22 megawatts of wind power. The technology turns a natural gas plant and a solar plant into conjoined twins; wind is more like a ? Pictured below: from left to right: Kerem Metin, Vice Chairman of Investments and Operations, Metcap Energy InvestmentsMete Maltepe, General Manager of GE Energy Turkey, Paul Browning, President and CEO of Thermal Products, GE Ricardo Cordoba, President of GE Energy for Western Europe and Northern AfricaDr Celal Metin, Chairman of Met Group of CompaniesPictured below right: Operating Modes for the plantENERGY security 049

half-sibling. More importantly, it sets the bar much higher in an ever developing industry, from both generation capacity and environmental point of view. MetCap Energy Investments will use General Electric's FlexEfficiency technology for its new integrated renewables combined cycle (IRCC) power plant, which is planned for construction in Karaman. The plant will enable flexible operation by integrating a next-generation 50 Hz 9FB gas turbines, a steam turbine, an oversized generator, 22 MW of GE wind turbines and 50 MW of eSolar concentrated solar thermal tower technology - all integrated by a GE Mark VIe plant control system. The plant is expected to have a power generation capacity of over 1000MW, which is sufficient to power more than 2,300,000 homes. The plant is expected to begin its commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2015.Metcap Energy Investments together with General Electric invested in California-based concentrating solar power (CSP) technology developer eSolar. eSolar, launched by Idealab founder Bill Gross, has long-term licensing agreements for its standalone solar technology with NRG Energy and other companies around the world. This is further evidence that Metcap is a firm believer in the part renewables should play in meeting our future energy needs. The design is based on a new model of General Electric's natural gas plant called FlexEfficiency, which is able to vary its output rapidly to make it a good dance partner for variable sources like wind and sun.Since the early days of the electricity market, efficiency has been a deciding factor for the plants design and feasibility. According to the calculations, the CCGT is expected to produce over 59 per cent efficiency at site conditions. If we are to consider the two inexhaustible energy sources - wind and sun, the plant at its height will produce above a 70 per cent efficiency with an annual average of above 67 per cent. This makes it one of the most important projects not only in Turkey, but also in the energy projects development market around the world. In the markets where natural gas availability is limited and the supply side costs are high and volatile, such efficiency is a very important advantage from a financial point of view. This advantage is also backed up by engineering improvements made in order to accomodate 210 hot start stops, a start up time of under 30 minutes at site and all-related precautionary measurements Left: The TrilemaRight: Model for Project Dervish built to scale" All industry experts agree that more important than where you produce your electricity is where you flow your production"050 ENERGY security