The project was proposed in 2012. In 2015 it was licensed, despite environmental protests, and Shanghai Electric Power said it would be China's largest ever direct investment in Turkey. In April 2019 a Belt and Road Initiative deal was signed to build the 1320 MW power station and construction started in September.
By 2020, according to Carbon Tracker, both new wind and solar power were cheaper than building new coal power plants; and they forecast that wind would become cheaper than existing coal plants in 2027, and solar in 2023: so they say that constructing the plant is a waste of money. However the company benefited from value-added tax exemptions of almost 3.5 billion lira in 2016.
Construction
Test piles have been constructed and in April 2019 Shanghai Electric Power said that "the successful signing of the facility agreement indicates that the project construction will enter into a fast-growth period". However construction of the coal silos was delayed.
Employment
The company says it will employ 4000 people in construction and 500 in operation.
Design and specification
The thermal power station would have 2x660 MW Ultra Super critical units with steam pressure of 27 MPa and reheat steam temperature of 600°C.
Coal supply
Coal is imported and stored in 3 large sea side silos.
Electricity generation
Efficiency
The design is for gross efficiency up to 46% with a gross coal consumption rate less than 270 g/kWh.
The selective catalytic reduction is designed to be more than 70% efficient, and according to the company will reduce NOx emissions to less than 100mg/Nm3.
Sulfur Dioxide and Dust
The design is for a combination of electrostatic precipitators, flue-gas desulfurization and wet scrubbers to reduce dust emissions to less than 5mg/Nm3.
It has been estimated that air pollution from the power station would cause an extra 50 early deaths per year.
Environmental effects
An expert report in 2020 concluded that the plant would be contrary to the İskenderun Bay Integrated Coastal Areas Plan's principles, and opponents say it contravenes the Biodiversity Convention.
Water
According to WWF-Turkey the project threatens the loggerhead sea turtles and green sea turtles which nest on nearby Sugözü Beach. Quoting the project environmental impact assessment as saying that the outgoing cooling water will be 7°C higher than the sea water, they say temperatures could exceed 35°C in summer and be fatal to the turtles. Coal shipments and delivery might also disturb the turtles.
Dust
Turkey has no legal limit on fine particulate emissions. The Health and Environment Alliance say that TurkStat figures show respiratory diseases have already increased in Adana Province, and that could be due to due to other coal-fired power stations.
Greenhouse gases
Shanghai Electric Power Company says it is "sustainable power generation" but the power station will increase Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions: if operational according to its design capacity factor and lifetime it will emit over 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Opposition
filed a lawsuit in 2017 and in 2018 several other organisations under the grouping of Doğu Akdeniz Çevre Platformu were in ongoing legal action in Ankara.
