YEO Technology said its subsidiary Reap Battery would control 51% of a joint venture in Turkey with BYD’s Great Power for energy storage solutions. The government is preparing a huge incentives mechanism for the domestic electric car industry.

In addition to a USD 1 billion investment in the construction and operation of an electric and hybrid car plant in Manisa, BYD joined a project for a manufacturing facility for electric vehicle batteries in Eskişehir, according to Turkish media reports.

YEO Technology (YEO Teknoloji Enerji ve Endüstri) signed a deal with a firm owned by the Chinese automotive giant on the establishment of a joint venture. The Turkish conglomerate said its subsidiary Reap Battery would hold 51% and that BYD’s Great Power is set to control the rest. The new company will make energy storage systems under the Reap Battery and Great Power brands, YEO revealed.

The products will be marketed primarily in Turkey and Europe, as well as in Turkic countries and African markets, the announcement reads. Last month Great Power entered the list of tier 1 energy storage manufacturers of BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Late last year, YEO said Reap Battery would start production by the end of 2024 at a gigafactory in Tuzla in Istanbul. Turkey’s Ministry of Industry and Technology then signed a deal with BYD in July for an EV plant with a capacity of 150,000 units per year and a research and development (R&D) center.

YEO, Great Power aim to tap into Turkey’s upcoming incentives scheme

YEO said it would negotiate with the Great Power Group on battery cell production, pointing to Turkey’s upcoming HIT-30 High Technology Investment Program.

Namely, the government said last week that it would provide USD 5 billion in incentives for the production of a total of 150,000 electric vehicles. Another USD 4.5 billion is slated for battery manufacturing, for at least 5 GWh. Long-term goals are one million EVs and 80 GWh, respectively, per year.

Founded in 2001, Great Power operates nine different facilities with a total capacity of 65 GWh. The company produces a wide range of battery and battery systems, from lithium-ion battery cells to container-type energy storage systems, for electric vehicles, energy grids, and other industries.

YEO Technology is active in areas from energy storage solutions to power grids, high voltage transformers, renewable energy plants, industrial and commercial facilities and hydrogen.

Giant rare earths deposit is opportunity for bilateral partnerships

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources is seeking partnerships with other countries for utilizing a major rare earth element deposit discovered in Beylikova in Eskişehir province in northwestern Turkey.

Officials said it includes ten of the 17 known elements and that the deposit in the second-largest in the world. Rare earths are essential for battery storage, renewable energy technologies and electronic devices. The ministry is reportedly holding talks with China, Australia and South Africa.

Of note, Siro, a subsidiary of Turkish electric car maker TOGG and Chinese battery manufacturer Farasis, laid the foundation stone last year for an electric car battery factory in Gemlik near Bursa. It is the first in the country.

The energy storage market including production facilities is also starting to emerge in the rest of the region that Balkan Green Energy News covers. A Belgian company launched a EUR 1.1 billion project for a battery plant, recycling facility and an R&D center in Bulgaria.