GAMA Enerji A.Åž., a GAMA Holding - GE Energy Financial Services joint venture, has achieved financial close and completed the first drawdown for a 35-megawatt (MW) wind power plant in Akhisar, Manisa, 40 kilometers from Izmir, Turkey.

GAMA Enerji signed a loan agreement with TSKB in Istanbul on July 5, for financing the Gök II wind park, which is expected to reach commercial operation in 2014.

The Gök II Wind Power Plant will be the third GE- and GAMA-owned wind farm in Turkey and will help the country reach its goal of generating 20,000 MW of wind energy by 2023. 13 GE 2.75-103 wind turbines will power the Gök II wind farm.

With the completion of Gök II, the operational wind power capacity of GAMA Enerji's three wind farms will increase to 67.5 MW, the equivalent to the required energy needs of approximately 115,000 Turkish homes.

According to a report by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey, the country's annual electricity demand increase is 5.68 percent. In comparison, the annual electricity demand increase in the European Union is only 1.6 percent. Turkey's energy import dependency is 74 percent, and the three GAMA Enerji-owned wind farms will help increase the country's total installed capacity.

Mete Maltepe, general manager, GE Power & Water in Turkey said:

"Turkey is one of the largest wind energy regions in Europe-with a prospective wind generation capacity of about 48,000 megawatts. Much of that potential remains untapped as the existing wind farms produce only about 2,500 megawatts. The Gök II Wind Power Plant in Akhisar, Manisa, will help Turkey reach its energy goals."

GAMA Enerji, the investor and operator of both the 22.5-MW Sares Wind Power Plant (Ezine, Çanakkale) and the 10-MW Karada? Wind Power Plant (Alia?a, ?zmir), which began commercial operation in 2011 and 2012, respectively, obtained a generation license for Gök II in February 2012.

GAMA Enerji was formed with a platform of power and water infrastructure assets that were completed by GAMA under a build-operate-transfer model. GAMA Enerji owns equity in projects that have a total electricity capacity of 1,142 MW and water conveyance capacity of 242 million m3/year.