Afşin-Elbistan power stations

The Afşin-Elbistan power stations are coal-fired power stations in Afşin in Kahramanmaraş Province in Turkey. The area is a sulfur dioxide air pollution hotspot:[1] Air pollution can be trapped by the surrounding mountains,[2] and Greenpeace say that measurements they took nearby in late 2020 show illegal levels of particulates and nitrogen oxides.[3] The Environment Ministry has not released the flue gas measurements.[3]

Afsin-Elbistan Power Complex

Coal

Local lignite's calorific value is under 5 MJ/kg, which is a quarter of typical thermal coal.[4]

Afşin-Elbistan A
Afşin-Elbistan A before refurbishment

Afşin-Elbistan A power station is a 1355 MW lignite-fired power station, owned by Çelikler Holding, which was shut down in January 2020 due to local air pollution,[5] but reopened in later in 2020.[6] Head of the parliamentary home affairs commission, Celalettin Guveç, said in December that delivery of flue gas desulferization parts had been delayed by the covid-19 pandemic and that the filters would be installed by the end of March 2021.[7]

History

Brought online from 1984 to 1987 Afşin-Elbistan A is one of the largest installed capacity coal-fired power stations in Turkey and is estimated to emit over 8 Mt CO2 per year,[8] over 1% of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions. It was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 5000 liras banknotes of 1990–1994.[9]

Technology

The plant burns lignite, which is transported by conveyor belt[10] from the nearby Kışlaköy coal mine. It was shut down for refurbishment in 2017. After burning 2% of the lignite remains as slag and 18% as fly ash, and a new landfill site was planned for both of these in 2019.[11]

Opposition

In January 2019 locals complained that the plant had been restarted causing visible ash pollution in the snow,[12] and local MP Sefer Aycan said in parliament he was concerned that the plant would add to the industrial pollution of the Aksu and Ceyhan rivers.[13] In March 2019 Greenpeace projected the message "These chimneys are spitting poison" onto the plant,[14] to publicise their earlier report claiming that, together with neighbouring Afşin-Elbistan B, the plants were responsible for 17,000 premature deaths. The area is a sulfur dioxide air pollution hotspot.[15] According to energy analyst Haluk Direskeneli, writing in 2019, flue-gas desulfurization is not installed and electrostatic precipitation is inadequate, and "it is futile to repair this power plant".[16]

Shutdown and reopening

The plant was shut down in January 2020 as it did not meet the flue gas emission limits which came into force that month.[17] Çelikler planned to have filters installed by June 2020.[18] The plant reopened but complaints of air pollution continue[19] and in September 2020 it was said by opposition MP Ali Öztunç to be still operating without filters.[20] In November 2020 the company said that the fuel oil system had been replaced by gas and dry flue gas filters had been completed and that they intended to complete wet flue gas filters in 2021.[21]

Afşin-Elbistan B

Afşin-Elbistan B power station is a 1440MW lignite-fired power station in Afşin in Kahramanmaraş Province in Turkey state owned by EÜAŞ. The plant burns lignite from the nearby Kışlaköy coal mine.

Built between 2004 and 2005 Afşin-Elbistan B is the largest single installed capacity coal-fired power station in Turkey and is estimated to emit almost 8 Mt CO2 per year,[8] over 1% of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions. Opponents said in September 2020 that ash retention filters are disabled on the pretext that they are expensive to clean.[22] An environmental impact report for proposed ash and slag storage is being written in 2020.[23]

Afşin-Elbistan C
Main article: Afşin-Elbistan C power station

Afşin-Elbistan C is an 1800 MW lignite-fired power station approved to be built[24] for the state-owned generating company. According to the Afşin-Elbistan C environmental impact assessment (EIA), it would emit more than 61 million tonnes of CO2 annually.[25] For comparison, the total annual greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey are about 500 million tonnes; thus the power station would add over 10% if operated at the targeted capacity factor.[note 1]

Public Opinion

According to a 2020 survey from nearby Kahramanmaraş Sütçüimam University most locals say they have chronic illness, and almost all believe that environmental protection measures taken by power plant managers are insufficient.[26] Opponents of the plants say that: "a significant portion of the people living in Afşin Elbistan are struggling with respiratory tract or cancer diseases."[22]

Notes
  1. Somewhat over a million tonnes of CO2 is emitted for every TWh of electricity generated in Turkey by coal-fired power stations. According to page xix of the February 2020 (final) version of the Afşin-Elbistan C environmental impact assessment (EIA) it is aimed to generate just over 12.5 TWh (gross) per year, so why the CO2 emissions are predicted to be so high is unclear. According to the calculation on page 319 of the EIA, 61,636,279.98 tCO2/year would be emitted; this has been rounded above.


References
  1. "Global SO2 emission hotspot database" (PDF). Greenpeace. August 2019.
  2. "STUDY BY GREENPEACE AND CREA: Two towns from Turkey among top five places with highest sulphur dioxide pollution". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  3. "Greenpeace: Afşin-Elbistan zehir saçıyor". www.sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  4. "Nuclear Power in Turkey | Nuclear Energy In Turkey - World Nuclear Association". www.world-nuclear.org. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  5. "Üç termik santral kapanabilir". Sabah (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  6. "Coal-fired plants reopen: Engineers cast doubt on minister's statement that 'obligations fulfilled'". bianet. 17 June 2020.
  7. Sesi, Elbistanın. "Güvenç'ten FGD filtre ve göçük açıklaması". Elbistanın Sesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  8. "Global coal power map". Carbon Brief. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  9. Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Archived 3 June 2009 at WebCite. Banknote Museum: 7. Emission Group – Five Thousand Turkish Lira – IV. Series Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. – Retrieved on 20 April 2009.
  10. "In Turkey, a Battle Over Coal Draws a Line in the Soot". Sierra Club. 2020-08-05.
  11. "Afşin Elbistan A Termik Santrali'nin atıkları depolanacak". Enerji Günlüğü. 17 December 2018.
  12. ""Termik santralin atıkları yüzünden siyah kar yağıyor"". 5 January 2019.
  13. "Aycan'dan Termik Santrallerin Çevre Kirliliğine Tepki". Yeşil Afşin. 9 January 2019.
  14. "17 bin erken ölümün nedeni termik santral". Birgün. 12 March 2019.
  15. "Global SO2 emission hotspot database" (PDF). Greenpeace. August 2019.
  16. Direskeneli, Haluk (2019-12-02). "Turkey: Energy And Infrastructure Forecast 2020 – OpEd". Eurasia Review. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  17. "Erdoğan chooses the environment over thermal power plants". DailySabah. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  18. www.kahramantv.com. "Mahir Ünal: Termik Santral Filtreleri Haziran'da Tamamlanacak". Kahraman TV (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  19. "Six coal-fired plants continue to emit thick smoke after end of suspension". bianet. 2 July 2020.
  20. Akdemir -, Özer (2020-09-11). "Afşin Elbistan Termik Santrali A Ünitesi hâlâ filtresiz çalışıyor! | Özer Akdemir". Ekoloji Birliği (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  21. "Afşin Elbistan A Santrali'nde çevre sistemleri, uluslararası standartlara sahip". Haberler.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  22. "British Afşin-Elbistan Environment Platform: "We don't want a thermal power plant" - Londra Gazete". Londra Gazete. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  23. "AKP'li şirketten bir ÇED raporu daha". Yeni Çağ Gazetesi (in Turkish). 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  24. "EÜAŞ 1800 MW'lık Afşin C Termik Santrali için çalışmalara başlıyor". Enerji Günlüğü (in Turkish). 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  25. Çınar (2020), p. 319
  26. "Afşin ve Elbistan İlçelerinde Toplumun Termik Santrallerin Çevreye ve İnsan Sağlığına Etkileri Konusundaki Görüşleri".

Sources

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