Zorlu Enerji hosted the General Assembly of the Next Generation Flexible Trigeneration Geothermal ORC Plant (nGEL) project on 3-4 July, 2025, in the Kızıldere-I & Kizildere-II Geothermal Power Plants premises, located in the Sarayköy district of Denizli province, in southwestern Türkiye. The consortium partners attended the assembly to participate in work package presentations, a workshop, a site visit, working sessions, and other collaborative activities.
The first day of the event began with a Stakeholders’ Workshop in the Kizildere-I. Dr Shahin Jamali, the coordinator of the nGEL project and the Head of Monitoring and AI at Fraunhofer IEG, and Tuğrul Hazar, the Technical Manager of the nGEL project and R&D, Asst. Manager at Zorlu Enerji, introduced the agenda and topics of the workshops to the participants. Representatives from Fraunhofer ISE, VITO, and Fraunhofer IEG conducted the workshop through their presentations. At the end of the session, participants were given the floor to ask questions. The stakeholders’ workshop provided a valuable platform to introduce the core concept of the nGEL project. It focused on showcasing innovative technologies, especially the integration of next-generation Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems and thermal energy storage into the existing geothermal setup at the Kizildere-II power plant in Denizli, Türkiye. It emphasised the practical advancements of the project, and demonstrated how existing geothermal infrastructures can be enhanced using technologies.
Following the workshop, a series of Work Package (WP) presentations took place on the first day, each led by the respective WP leaders. ZOREN presented Requirement Analysis and Specification (WP1) and Demonstration and Validation (WP4), Fraunhofer presented Development of Cold Thermal Energy Storage (WP2) and Project Management & Coordination (WP7), VITO presented Control Strategy and System for Flexible ORC (WP3), TVS presented Sustainability Analysis and Awareness Campaign (WP5), and Geolorn Ireland (GEOI) presented Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation (WP6).
As part of the day’s agenda, participants also visited the Kizildere-II Geothermal Power Plant site. This location holds particular importance for the nGEL project, as the nGEL-integrated Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system, to be developed by project partnerRePG, will be implemented and demonstrated there. This visit allowed the participants to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the ORC system into the existing infrastructure and to determine the most effective way to proceed with installation at Kizildere-II.
On 4 July, the General Assembly was held on the premises of the Kizildere-II Power Plant. The day included two working sessions and a concluding session, all conducted with active participation from the attendees. These sessions provided valuable opportunities to discuss the project's progress, future direction, and strategic alignment.
The two-day General Assembly of the nGEL project marked a significant milestone for the project and reinforced the strong collaboration among its partners as well. The event helped to set a clear path forward for future implementation.
This project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) Research and Innovation Actions under grant agreement No 101148170.