The green transition is moving higher up the agenda for global construction contractors. Rönesans, which has ranked among the world’s 50 largest international contractors for 11 consecutive years, is among the companies setting more ambitious targets in this area. As part of a recent restructuring, the Group announced that it had consolidated all its global engineering and construction operations under Rönesans Infrastructure Systems.
Having acquired Ballast Nedam, a Dutch company with a 150-year history, in 2015, Rönesans now plans to apply the sustainable engineering expertise gained through its Dutch subsidiary across other international markets as part of its new organisational structure.
During our visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp, Chair of the Board of Directors, Rönesans Holding, we had the opportunity to see examples of sustainable construction practices first-hand.
Ilıcak Kayaalp said that the construction portfolio of the newly restructured Rönesans Infrastructure Systems had reached €8.7 billion as of June 2026. She also noted that Rönesans had undertaken more than 1,000 projects in about 40 countries, generating a total of $50 billion in revenue from its international projects to date. Describing Ballast Nedam as a tangible example of Rönesans’s approach to international growth and corporate transformation, Ilıcak Kayaalp said:
‘We Have Brought Together Two Distinct Areas of Expertise’
“We brought together Rönesans’s international project management experience and the Netherlands’ expertise in sustainable engineering. For us, the value of this partnership goes beyond acquiring a company. It lies in how two different corporate cultures have enriched each other. We are applying what we have learnt in the Netherlands to our operations in Türkiye and other countries, while also sharing our own experience with Ballast Nedam. By 2030, we plan to roll out the green construction site practices we have developed in the Netherlands across all our operations.”
$13 Billion Invested in Türkiye
Highlighting the important role of international partnerships in Rönesans’s global growth, Ilıcak Kayaalp pointed to the company’s partnerships and collaborations with leading international organisations, including IFC, Meridiam, TotalEnergies, Sojitz, Samsung C&T and Digital Realty. Ilıcak Kayaalp said Rönesans had undertaken approximately $13 billion in private sector investments in Türkiye to date, adding: “Through these investments, we have helped attract $2.5 billion in foreign direct investment and secure $7.5 billion in international financing.”
Data Centre Investment Potential Reaches $3 Billion
Kemal Sağlam, CEO of Rönesans Infrastructure Systems, also provided details of the data centre project, construction of which recently began. He explained that Rönesans Infrastructure Systems had identified digital infrastructure as one of its strategic growth areas and established a strategic partnership with Digital Realty. Commenting on the project in Temelli, Ankara, Sağlam said:Second Data Centre Campus Planned for Istanbul
“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 data centre campus in İstanbul. In the long term, once all phases are completed, we envisage creating a platform with the potential to reach a total IT capacity of 204 MW and a total investment value of up to $3 billion at the joint venture level.”
Building the Netherlands’ Second-Largest Bridge
Kemal Sağlam highlighted Ballast Nedam’s involvement in some of the Netherlands’ most iconic projects, including the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the Gaasperdammertunnel and the Maasdeltatunnel. Emphasising the importance of solutions developed in modular construction and water management for the future of sustainable cities, Sağlam also provided details of the Netherlands’ second-largest bridge, which is currently under construction. According to Sağlam, the New Merwede Bridge aims to strengthen one of the country’s most important north-south transport links. As a key component of the A27 Everdingen-Hooipolder infrastructure programme, the project is expected to increase transport capacity, improve safety and enhance logistics efficiency.Source: Yasemin Salih / Bigpara Hürriyet