Afşin-Elbistan C power station

Afşin-Elbistan C is a planned 1800 MW coal-fired power station which may be built in Turkey. The three units of 600 MW are reported to be under construction in Afşin in Kahramanmaraş Province for the state-owned generating company (EÜAŞ). Estimated to cost 17.3 billion lira, at planned capacity 11 TWh per year[3] of the nation's electricity would be generated by burning 23 million tonnes of lignite annually.[4] According to the environmental impact assessment, the plant would emit over 61 million tonnes of CO
2 each year for 35 years. It would be the least carbon efficient power station in the world.

Afşin-Elbistan C power station
Official nameAfşin C Termik Santralı
CountryTurkey
LocationAfşin
Coordinates38°21′09″N 37°00′18″E
StatusUnclear
Construction cost₺17.3 billion (estimate)[1]
Owner(s)EÜAŞ
Operator(s)EÜAŞ
Thermal power station
Primary fuelLignite
Turbine technologysupercritical
Power generation
Units under const.3 x 600MW
Nameplate capacity1800 MW
Capacity factor6948 hours/year [2]
Annual net output11 TWh (planned)

History

The site in the Altınelma district is near the two existing Afşin-Elbistan power stations. In 2019, compulsory purchase of land by EÜAŞ was authorised by President Erdoğan,[5] and diversion of Hurman Creek will allow more access to Elbistan coalfield.[6]

Although construction was reported to have started in February 2020,[7] as of March 2020 Global Energy Monitor still listed the plant's status as "pre-permit development".[8] Another report seems to imply that construction will start later in 2020.[9]

Economics

The plant is planned to operate for 35 years and is funded by the Turkey Wealth Fund, the country's sovereign wealth fund, which plans to pay dividends to the treasury by 2025.[9] This is in accordance with the energy policy of Turkey, which prioritises local sources of energy to reduce coal and natural gas imports, partly in order to maintain energy security.[9] Despite low production costs,[10] the private sector was not interested as the coal is low-quality.[9] Despite being completely state-owned, EÜAŞ is a "Public Economic Enterprise" so is meant to operate commercially and seek profit.[11] According to Carbon Tracker, by 2020 both new wind and solar power plants were cheaper than building new coal-power plants. They forecast that wind would become cheaper than existing coal plants in 2027, and solar in 2023, and conclude that constructing the plant is a waste of money.[12]

Technology

The station is planned to run 6948 hours a year to generate 11380 GWh.[13] By using a supercritical boiler, the plant will be more efficient and emit less local air pollution[14] than all other large (over 400 MW) local lignite-fuelled power stations in Turkey, as they use subcritical boilers. But, according to campaign group "Right to Clean Air Platform" it would still result in 33,000 deaths over 40 years.[15]

Greenhouse gas emissions

The Afşin-Elbistan C environmental impact assessment (EIA) estimated CO
2 emissions would be more than 60 million tonnes of CO
2 per year.[16] By comparison, total annual greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey are about 520 million tonnes;[17] thus more than a tenth of greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey would be from the planned power station.[note 1][note 2] Therefore, if built, at over 5 kg of CO2 per kWh generated it would be less carbon efficient than any power station on the list of least carbon efficient power stations.[note 3]

Opposition

Ali Öztunç, local MP of the main opposition Republican People's Party, has spoken out against the plant.[24] Environmentalists claim the country already has too much capacity[25] and contend that the plant will damage local water resources.[26] In February 2020, thousands of people filed petitions against the approval of the EIA,[27] but it was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation in March.[28]

Notes
  1. 62 megatonnes would be emitted annually[16] if run at the targeted capacity factor, whereas Turkey's current annual emissions are 521 megatonnes.[17] By simple arithmetic 62 megatonnes is more than 10% of 521+62 megatonnes.
  2. On average somewhat over a million tonnes of CO2 was emitted for every TWh of electricity generated in Turkey by coal-fired power stations in 2010.[18] This power station aims to generate just over 12.5 TWh (gross) per year.[19] The calculation in the EIA assumes an emission factor of 94.6 tCO2/TJ,[16] which is three times the average of 31 for Turkish lignite,[20] but it is unclear whether this is the only reason the CO2 emissions per kWh are predicted to be very high compared to the 2010 average. Since 2020, more stringent filtering of local air pollutants from the smokestack has been compulsory.[21] Moreover, although the average is about 2800,[22] the net calorific value of Turkish lignite varies between 1000 and 6000 kcal/kg.[23]
  3. 61,636,279.98 tCO2/year divided by 11380 GWh/year equals 61,636.27998 Gg CO2 divided by 11,380 GWh equals 5.4 kg CO2/kWh

References
  1. "EÜAŞ 1800 MW'lık Afşin C Termik Santrali için çalışmalara başlıyor". Enerji Günlüğü (in Turkish). 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  2. "Bakanlık, bölgeye 3.santralin kurulmasına 'olumlu' baktı". Elbistanın Sesi (in Turkish). 2020-03-28.
  3. "EÜAŞ, Afşin C Termik Santrali İçin Çalışmalara Başlıyor". Yeşil Afşin (in Turkish). 2020-03-05.
  4. "C Santrali'nin ÇED sürecinde kritik dönemeç". Elbistanın Sesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  5. Sesi, Elbistanın. "C Termik Santrali için acele kamulaştırma kararı çıktı". Elbistanın Sesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  6. "Üç termik santral kapanabilir". Sabah (in Turkish).
  7. "EÜAŞ 1800 MW'lık Afşin C Termik Santrali için çalışmalara başlıyor". Enerji Günlüğü (in Turkish). 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  8. "Afşin-Elbistan power complex - Global Energy Monitor". www.gem.wiki. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  9. Öztürk, Sinan (2020-01-21). "Turkey Wealth Fund eyes becoming strategic investment arm of the country". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  10. Kasap, Yaşar; Şensöğüt, Cem; Ören, Özer (2020-03-01). "Efficiency change of coal used for energy production in Turkey". Resources Policy. 65: 101577. doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101577. ISSN 0301-4207.
  11. Europe Beyond Coal(2020), page 4
  12. "WIND VS COAL POWER IN TURKEY/SOLAR PV VS COAL IN TURKEY" (PDF). Carbon Tracker. 2020.
  13. "Bakanlık, bölgeye 3.santralin kurulmasına 'olumlu' baktı". Elbistanın Sesi (in Turkish). 2020-03-28.
  14. "Turkey looks to raise share of renewables to two-thirds by 2023". Anadolu Agency. 2019-06-17.
  15. "Covid-19 Quarantine has Cleaned the Air of Turkey, What Should be Done Next?". Bianet. 22 April 2020.
  16. Çınar (2020), p. 319.
  17. "Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions fall for second year in a row". Daily Sabah. Anadolu Agency. 2020-03-31. Turkey's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 ..... equivalent to 520.9 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
  18. Atilgan et al (2016), p. 177.
  19. Çınar (2020), p. xix.
  20. Turkstat report (2020), p. 50.
  21. "Turkey shuts power plants for not installing filters". Anadolu Agency. 2020-01-02.
  22. Yerli̇ ve mi̇lli̇ enerji̇ poli̇ti̇kalari ekseni̇nde kömür (PDF) (Report). Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research. January 2019.
  23. Turkstat report (2020), pp. 59,60.
  24. "AKP'li şirketten bir ÇED raporu daha". Yeni Çağ Gazetesi (in Turkish). 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  25. Gazetesi, Yeni Yaşam (2020-02-28). "Afşin Elbistan'a biçilen değer cehennem!". Yeni Yaşam Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  26. "Suların şehri susuz şehir oluyor | alevi gazetesi" (in Turkish). 5 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  27. "Bölge halkından C Termik Santrali'ne karşı binlerce dilekçe". Elbistanın Sesi (in Turkish). 6 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  28. "Afşin Elbistan C Termik Santali yapımı için bakanlıktan onay çıktı". Elbistan Olay (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-04-02.

Bibliography

UNFCCC reports
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