Entering a new phase of global growth, Rönesans has delivered more than 1,000 projects in approximately 40 countries, generating a total of $50 billion in revenue from international projects to date. Ballast Nedam, one of the Netherlands’ leading contractors with a history spanning nearly 150 years, and Heitkamp, which operates in Germany and Switzerland, play key roles in Rönesans’s European construction operations.
Rönesans Invests $13 Billion in Türkiye with Its Partners
İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp, Chair of the Board of Directors of Rönesans Holding, highlighted the important role of international partnerships in the company’s global growth. She noted that partnerships and collaborations with leading international organisations, including IFC, Meridiam, TotalEnergies, Sojitz, Samsung C&T, and Digital Realty, have contributed significantly beyond providing access to financing, particularly in global knowledge and expertise, technical capabilities, corporate governance, and sustainability.“To date, we have undertaken approximately $13 billion in private sector investments in Türkiye. Through these investments, we have helped attract $2.5 billion in foreign direct investment and secure $7.5 billion in international financing. We have worked with approximately 3,000 Turkish manufacturers and 500 subcontractors on our international projects. Over the past 10 years, we have brought more than $2 billion worth of goods and services from Türkiye to our overseas projects. For us, globalisation does not mean moving away from Türkiye. It means bringing the experience we have gained and the economic value we have created around the world back to Türkiye,” said Ilıcak Kayaalp.
“The Netherlands Is One of Our Two Main Operational Hubs”
Kemal Sağlam, CEO of Rönesans Infrastructure, explained that the new structure brings together international construction and engineering operations with long-term infrastructure investments. He said the company was applying its global engineering experience to healthcare, transport infrastructure, renewable energy and data centres. Identifying Türkiye and the Netherlands as Rönesans Infrastructure’s two main markets, Sağlam emphasised Ballast Nedam’s long-established engineering expertise in transport infrastructure, water management, modular construction, renewable energy infrastructure and industrial projects in the Netherlands.Highlighting Ballast Nedam’s involvement in landmark Dutch projects such as the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the Gaasperdammertunnel and the Maasdeltatunnel, Sağlam said: “The Netherlands faces a significant housing shortage, and the government aims to build 100,000 new homes a year. Through our modular construction technologies, we aim to meet this need more quickly and with a lower environmental impact. Waldorp Four, our project in The Hague comprising 1,171 homes, is one of Europe’s largest modular housing developments. We have also helped strengthen infrastructure against flood risks at Rijnkade and developed engineering solutions for renewable energy infrastructure at Windplanblauw.”
“We Will Also Develop a Data Centre in İstanbul”
Sağlam announced that Rönesans had established a strategic partnership with Digital Realty and begun construction of its first data centre campus in Temelli, Ankara. “We are combining Digital Realty’s global data centre expertise, customer ecosystem and operational capabilities with Rönesans’s strengths in engineering, investment and financing. For the first phase of our Ankara campus, we are planning more than 22 MW of IT capacity and over 10,000 square metres of white space. We aim to bring the first phase into operation in 2028. Following Ankara, we also plan to develop a new data centre campus in İstanbul. In the long term, once all phases are completed, we envisage creating a platform capable of reaching a total IT capacity of 204 MW, with total investment potential of up to $3 billion at the joint venture level,” Sağlam said.
“We Have Reached a Capacity of 9,300 Beds Across Six City Hospitals”
Sağlam highlighted city hospitals as one of the most important examples of Rönesans Infrastructure’s long-term investment and operational model. He said the six city hospitals developed in Türkiye under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model have a combined capacity of approximately 9,300 beds.Emphasising the importance of energy investments in Rönesans Infrastructure’s growth strategy, Sağlam also noted that TotalEnergies holds a 50% stake in Rönesans Enerji. “Our goal is to reach approximately 1,400 MW of operational installed capacity by 2028 and around 2,000 MW in the medium term,” he said.
Transforming Dutch Infrastructure Through Ballast Nedam
Ballast Nedam, Rönesans’s Dutch subsidiary, is involved in projects spanning transport infrastructure, modular housing and renewable energy. On the A24 Blankenburg Connection, which strengthens transport links to the Port of Rotterdam, tunnel elements were joined 30 metres beneath the riverbed. The New Merwede Bridge aims to increase transport capacity and improve logistics efficiency. At Waldorp Four in The Hague, a residential development comprising 1,171 homes, the project aims to reduce construction time and material waste through modular construction technology. Meanwhile, the Rijnkade project in Arnhem is strengthening the city’s resilience against flooding, while at Windplanblauw, 28 older wind turbines have been replaced with 24 newer, more efficient turbines. Rönesans Infrastructure aims to apply the engineering experience gained from these projects across different geographies.Source: Jülide Yiğittürk Gürdamar / Dünya Gazetesi