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.

Coal

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

Afşin-Elbistan A

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, but reopened in later in 2020.

History

Brought online from 1984 to 1987 Afşin-Elbistan A is one of the largest installed capacity coal-fired power stations in Turkey and was estimated to emit 5.47 Mt CO2 per year, over 1% of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions. The plant burns lignite 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.

Opposition

In January 2019 locals complained that the plant had been restarted causing visible ash pollution in the snow, 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.
In March 2019 Greenpeace projected the message "These chimneys are spitting poison" onto the plant, 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. 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".

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. Çelikler planned to have filters installed by June 2020. The plant has reopened but complaints of air pollution continue.

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 5.8 Mt CO2 per year, over 1% of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions. Despite generating almost 3,500 GWh in 2017, Afşin-Elbistan B repairs and recommissioning have not brought the plant to the desired operational level as of 2019. The plant was granted a temporary operating licence for the first half of 2020. An environmental impact report for proposed ash and slag storage is being written in 2020.

Afşin-Elbistan C

Afşin-Elbistan C is an 1800 MW lignite-fired power station under construction for the state-owned generating company. According to , it would emit more than 61 million tonnes of CO2 annually. 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.