If you haven’t read the first part of this series, I recommend reading it before starting this one. You can find the first article at https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/ders-niteliginde-bir-res-projesinin-kurtarilmasi-1- .On my birthday on 26 November 2019, we met with the entire team on site to begin the installation. At this meeting were senior executives and professionals from the German Robur and its Polish branch (Robur Baltic), who would be carrying out the installation. On the day the installation began, I gave a historic speech to the entire team. Here’s the video of that speech:
In this video, as if I’d foreseen everything, I say, “We’re having problems with the logistics and crane company.” Frankly, I say this because I anticipated some initial issues with Sistem Vinç, the logistics and crane service provider, at the time. Let’s rewind the story a bit. Let’s return to our first meeting with Sistem Vinç.
Luca’s insistence, which I can’t understand, is unclear
In early-November 2019, after barely salvaging our turbines, we meet on site to meet with the last remaining team from Senvion to plan the installation. I’m reflecting on our conversation with Luca, the Senvion project manager:
(Serhan) – Luca, I’ve never liked this logistics and crane company you’ve chosen.
(Luca) – I recommend you don’t change logistics companies from now on.
(S) – Even though the guys arrived on site, they didn’t even get out of their vehicles. That is, until we called them in. Furthermore, during our meeting, they spoke in an overly loud tone. It’s difficult with their personality. The most important thing is that their competence is questionable. Their tone doesn’t inspire confidence in me.
(L) – We’ve been talking to them for two years. We used them on our previous project as well. No problems.
(S) – They conduct inspections, then submit their proposals, which may or may not be accepted. There are other companies that conduct inspections as well. We have no obligation to them, we don’t even have a contract. Besides, your project was a single-turbine project. Just because there weren’t any problems on this project doesn’t mean there won’t be any more.
(L) – Serhan, for God’s sake, let’s keep working with these guys. I know we’re not obligated to them, but we’ve known each other for a long time, and I don’t want to let them down.
(S) – You’re not letting them down. We have the choice. Frankly, I’m in favor of awarding this job to the more reliable companies in the industry.
(L) – Their offer is higher.
(S) – We can negotiate and even out the prices. Besides, I’d prefer to award such an important project to a reliable company with a slightly higher margin.
I’ve shared a summary of this conversation, which lasted several hours, above. At the end of the discussion, Luca continued his insistence, prompting me to change my choice with the following words:
(L) – Serhan, you know, I’ve invested years in this business. Trust me on this. Don’t change this company. I don’t want to embarrass them either.
(S) – Luca, I don’t understand why you’re so insistent. This isn’t related to the industry.
(L) – I haven’t asked you for anything yet. I tried to help you when you had a problem with Senvion. I’m only asking about this. Please don’t offend me or embarrass us.
After these last words, I said the following to Luca and ended the conversation:
(S) – I’m saying yes to this just so I don’t embarrass you, since you stood by us while we fought to save our turbines. But know that I’m not comfortable with these guys at all. If there’s a problem, the responsibility is yours.
(L) – Don’t worry, Serhan. I’ve never embarrassed you before, and I won’t do it again. I take full responsibility.
I want to make a point here: After this conversation in November 2019, Luca left Senvion in January 2020 and started working for another European wind turbine company. He wasn’t responsible for the accident that caused us serious damage, which I’ll share with you shortly; he simply expressed his regrets.
What Happened When He Didn’t Change Companies?
We had the conversation I shared above in two different locations. We continued our conversation at the construction site over dinner. During this hour-long discussion, both the two professionals Luca had brought with him from Italy and five members of our team were present. Everyone witnessed these conversations. Then, driven by my tender heart and the urge to support the decision of someone who hadn’t let me down, I made this decision. As an Italian, I still can’t understand why Luca insisted so much on Sistem. But because of his insistence, we didn’t change the logistics company we were planning to change, and we got into all sorts of trouble. I’m sharing what happened next.
First, we worked very hard to get the Sistem company to bring a test vehicle and determine the route. Even though they sent a test vehicle, they didn’t manage to determine the route properly. They even changed the route again at the last minute. At our insistence, they sent another test vehicle a few days before the wing transport, and at the last minute, we again discovered numerous problems. We scrambled to complete these tasks and fulfilled their requests completely. We organized all the additional excavation and road maintenance work that was reported to us at the last minute.
On the morning of the accident (5 December 2019), Oğuzhan Yazgan called me. The moment this friend, whom we had trusted and authorized at a young age, answered the phone, I realized there was something seriously wrong with his tone and manner of speaking. He took a deep breath and spoke as follows:
(Oğuzhan) – Mr. Serhan, something terrible has happened.
(Serhan) – What happened? Frankly, I panic when you start talking like that.
(O) – The unthinkable has happened to us. The logistics company has dropped one of the wings. (S) – Which wing was dropped? Is there any damage?
(O) – They dropped the first of the six wings to be transported this morning. Yes, unfortunately, there is significant damage.
(S) – What happened to the other wings? What did you do with the damaged wing?
(O)– We had started transporting the first three. The other three remained at the port. We pulled the ones we had started transporting to the side. We set up a security cordon around the damaged wing. The gendarmerie is here. We’re waiting.
(S) – Try to lift and replace the damaged wing with Robur officials. Just be very careful so the wing doesn’t get damaged further.
(O)– Okay, I’ll talk to Robur now.
Care taken after it’s too late
We spoke with Oğuzhan Bey, our other professionals, and Robur officials numerous times throughout the day. They restored the damaged wing with great care, just as we had discussed. The three wings whose transport had already begun had to spend a night on that route.
The next morning, Sistem Crane changed the truck and driver. After the accident site, which occurred at the Kerpe bend and had a relatively gentle slope, they meticulously and slowly delivered the wings to the construction site the next day, without incident, through much steeper and more winding roads.
When we spoke with the owners of Sistem Vinç, they took no responsibility for the accident, as if they hadn’t caused it, and they didn’t even berate our professionals. Yet, video of the accident was shot by the Highways Directorate. Since the gendarmerie was also accompanying the convoy, everything was crystal clear. I’m sharing the video below; you decide.
Here’s the video of the accident.
Both guilty and powerful
The gendarmerie report also found Sistem Vinç 100% at fault. However, the company responsible for the accident didn’t just pay the rest of the price, they immediately began pressuring them to pay the remaining amount. They even went so far as to threaten them by placing their cranes at the entrance to the site and blocking it. Right around that time, we made the first installment of the three-month payment, and then we informed them, “Get off the field immediately, or we’re calling the gendarmerie,” and then we removed them from the field. This state of being both guilty and powerful touched me deeply. If they had continued to block the entrance, we would have had the gendarmerie remove them from the field and then filed a criminal complaint against all company officials. Thankfully, they had the presence of mind to act rationally and left, albeit late, the week after the accident. After they left, we made the second installment payment, and for the final installment, we said, “We’re assessing our damages, wait.”
An incalculable loss
The damage they inflicted on us was incalculable. If this accident hadn’t happened, we would have commissioned our wind farm by February last year at the latest. After this accident, we had two options: either replace the entire blades, which was a very expensive alternative. I say the blades because we couldn’t bring in a single blade from the manufacturer to ensure they were compatible. So, we had to replace all three and then bring in a different blade model.
Or, if the wing was reparable, we would have the damaged wing repaired. This determination took time. We brought in two experts and had every inch of the wing 3D scanned. All analyses revealed that the wing was severely damaged, but after a process that nearly amounted to rebuilding the wing from scratch, it could be repaired. It took approximately three months for the expert technical and authorized team to reach this conclusion. Due to this accident, we immediately began preparing the necessary repair crews, but just as we were ready to bring the team from Portugal to repair the wing, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and the borders closed. This accident left us unable to do anything, and we waited for the borders to reopen.
Immediately after the borders opened in June-July, we arranged for a Portuguese company and a Turkish company to accompany them, bringing the Portuguese wing company to the field. The Portuguese company was able to complete its work in early-November.
Crane rush with the extension of the incentive!
This time, we faced another problem. When the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources extended the dollar-based incentive price paid for renewable energy by another six months, the October 2020 deadline, all potential investors rushed the projects. These greedy investors, accelerating the projects with the mentality of “Let’s build a single turbine and benefit from YEKDEM,” grabbed every crane on the market, and as a result, we experienced extreme difficulties finding cranes. I’ll go into detail about this in my next article. For now, I’d like to say that we hired a crane in the second half of December, at a price much higher than the normal price, and completed the installation towards the end of December.
We hope to bring in the commissioning team from Senvion in February, organize the Ministry’s approval, and commission our second turbine. We pray for patience and good luck.
In other words, we were able to commission the first turbine of the power plant, which was to be fully commissioned in January of last year, or at the latest in February, on 29 July, just one day before Eid al-Adha. We will not commission the second turbine until February. This equates to a six-month production loss for the T2 turbine and a one-year production loss for the T1 turbine.
The loss of production, the additional costs we incurred for delayed installation due to the accident, the contractual delay compensation for the delay, the fact that the amount we spent on blade repairs exceeded the insurance premium, the fact that the repair cost was initially covered by us and partially recouped by insurance months later (financial cost), the risk that the repaired damaged blade might not perform as well as the original blade (deficient performance), moral damages, and much more… I can confidently say that this accident has cost us millions of lira in losses. We will report all the details to the court.
What do you think Sistem Crane Company did? At the height of their arrogance, they initiated enforcement proceedings against us for the third installment payment. So, even though we told them, “Just wait, we’re assessing our losses, and once we do, we’ll reach a mutual agreement,” they filed enforcement proceedings against us. It was like a wicked thief pressuring a homeowner. We couldn’t understand their ignoring the millions of liras in losses we’d suffered. Frankly, this was the final straw for me.
Thereupon, we filed a compelling lawsuit against Sistem Vinç, a company that had completely abused our goodwill and caused us significant damage.
Ultimately, we will all see what happens in this lawsuit. Winning this case will perhaps be the first significant step toward ensuring that players in sectors like renewable energy, one of the most important sectors in the fight against climate change, adhere to the criteria of merit, ethical values, transparency, and reliability. Therefore, a victory in this case will affect not only us but the entire sector, triggering the necessary change. With this in mind, we will be following this case to the end.
I would like to thank our attorney, Lawyer Melih Koçhan, and our advisors, who contributed greatly to the preparation of the petition. Hopefully, we will win this important case for the sector together.
Tag: ecology
