A £4.5 billion trade deal which could see a UK developer construct the world’s largest solar plant in Turkey is back “on track” and could complete by October.
Barnsley-based Solar Europa landed the deal in 2014 as part of a trade mission headlined by Prime Minister David Cameron, however it has been hit by a string of delays and little progress has been evident since it was originally announced.
In February this year Labour Party MP Dan Jarvis accused Cameron of failing to clear red tape that was holding up the contracts and called upon the prime minister to intervene.
And the deal was set back further by Turkey’s general election in June, which resulted in a hung parliament after the country’s social conservative AKP party failed to win a majority ahead of its closest opposition Republican People’s Party.
But speaking to Solar Power Portal, Solar Europa chief executive David Hawkins said that now the country’s elections has passed he was hopeful of the deal completing in September or October this year.
Hawkins said that the support the company had received was “unrivalled in the world of business” and that Solar Europa had worked closely with the British Consulate, the British Ambassador as well as both UK Trade & Investment and the Foreign & Commonwealth office in order to progress the deal.
An agreement would see Solar Europa develop and service a giant solar farm in the south of Turkey between 3–4GW in size which the company has previously said would create up to 600 jobs in Barnsley.