Tat Gıda Receives R&D Grant from the European Union

Tat Gıda Receives R&D Support from European Union Tat Gıda has been awarded R&D support from the European Union under the Horizon Europe Programme, the world's largest civilian research and innovation programme, through the PV4Plants and SolarHub projects. Both projects will serve Tat Gıda's sustainability objectives in food and agriculture. With the SolarHub project, the consortium aims to develop green innovation capacity and use this capacity to support sustainable and safe food production in the Mediterranean region; with PV4Plants, the goal is to improve plant growth conditions by increasing the energy-agriculture synergy of AgriPV technologies, thereby enhancing land use efficiency, crop yield and renewable energy production. Tat Gıda, which carefully prepares its products with advanced technology and the highest standards of food safety and quality, continues to launch new projects with its vision of being a sector leader. Tat Gıda has been awarded R&D support through the PV4Plants and SolarHub projects under the Horizon Europe Programme, the world's largest civilian research and innovation programme conducted by the European Union to support research and innovation projects. Tat Gıda Chief Executive Officer Evren Albaş stated: "We are greatly pleased to participate in the Horizon Europe Programme, the world's largest civilian research and innovation programme, with our highly valued project partners and to have both our projects approved for support. As a sector leader in Turkey and a company growing globally every day, we know that investing in the future of agriculture and food is of critical importance. We believe in the importance of digitalization in agriculture and innovation in food for the sustainability of our world's and our country's future in terms of agriculture and reliable food production. I am confident that the PV4Plants and SolarHub projects, which we will manage in cooperation with our relevant project partners from Turkey and abroad, will produce successful results." he said.

The PV4Plants project will enable both agriculture and solar energy generation to take place in the same area

PV4Plants, which received funding under the Horizon Europe Programme, through the project "Agrivoltaic Systems for Climate, Water and Light Spectrum Control for Safe, Healthy and Enhanced Product Obtaining", will make it possible to both conduct agriculture and generate solar energy in the same area. The PV4Plants project aims to increase land use efficiency, crop yield and renewable energy production by enhancing the energy-agriculture synergy of AgriPV technologies to improve plant growth conditions. Following the project's 4-year duration, the aim is to increase market entry and adoption of agrivoltaic systems through innovative farmer participation strategies, and to create new mechanisms designed to accelerate the use of agriPV systems along with the development of new financing plans and business models in future periods. The system to be developed within the project will be tested in pilot areas in Turkey, Spain and Denmark to demonstrate its compatibility with different climate conditions and crop varieties. 14 organizations participate in the PV4Plants project, 4 of which are from Turkey. In the consortium where Kalyon Güneş Teknolojileri Üretim A.Ş. serves as coordinator, ODTÜ-GUNAM (Middle East Technical University-Solar Energy Research and Application Centre), Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, and TAT GIDA A.Ş. take part, with the other 10 partners participating from different countries.

SolarHub will support sustainable and safe food production

The general objective of the SolarHub project, funded under the Excellence Hubs call, is to strengthen connections between solar energy innovation ecosystems in Turkey and Greece, particularly within agricultural applications, and to work on creating a unified ecosystem. SolarHub aims to develop the consortium's green innovation capacity and use this capacity to support sustainable and safe food production in the Mediterranean region by creating 4 open solar energy solutions. Furthermore, SolarHub aims to strengthen Greek and Turkish solar energy innovation ecosystems by fully aligning Greece, Turkey and EU Green Deal priorities, policies, financing, capacities and activities. In the long term, SolarHub aims to support innovation-based green economic growth and employment in Greece and Turkey. A total of 21 organizations participate in the project, 11 of which are from Turkey. Turkish stakeholders include ODTÜ GÜNAM (Coordinator), Ege Üniversitesi, Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, International Solar Energy Society Turkey Section Association, Kalyon Günes Teknolojileri Uretim A.Ş., Solimpeks Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., Tat Gıda Sanayi A.Ş., TÜBİTAK, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, and Ankara Gölbaşı Chamber of Agriculture.