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 planned for Afşin in Kahramanmaraş Province may be operated by the state-owned generating company. Estimated to cost lira, at planned capacity 11 TWh per year of the nation's electricity would be generated by burning 23 million tonnes of lignite annually. According to the environmental impact assessment, the plant would emit over 61 million tonnes of carbon dioxide| each year for 35 years. It would be the least carbon efficient power station in the world.

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, and diversion of Hurman Creek will allow more access to Elbistan coalfield.
Global Energy Monitor lists the plant's status as "pre-permit development".

Mine

The plant would be supplied by a nearby opencast lignite mine owned by EÜAŞ.

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. 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. Despite low production costs, the private sector was not interested as the coal is low-quality. Despite being completely state-owned, EÜAŞ is a "Public Economic Enterprise" so is meant to operate commercially and seek profit. 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.

Technology

The station is planned to run 6948 hours a year to generate 11380 GWh. By using a supercritical boiler, the plant will be more efficient and emit less local air pollution than all other large 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 thousands of early deaths over the lifetime of the plant.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The Afşin-Elbistan C environmental impact assessment estimated emissions would be more than 60 million tonnes of per year. By comparison, total annual greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey are about 520 million tonnes; thus more than a tenth of greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey would be from the planned power station. 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.

Opposition

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

UNFCCC reports