Şırnak Silopi power station () is a 405 MW operational

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

in Silopi, in

Şırnak Province Şırnak Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in Turkey in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Şırnak Province was created in 1990, with areas that were formerly part of the Siirt Province, Siirt, Hakkâri Province, Hakkâri and Mardin ...

in the south-east of Turkey. It is fuelled with

asphaltite Asphaltite (also known as uintahite, asphaltum, gilsonite or oil sands) is a naturally occurring soluble solid hydrocarbon, a form of asphalt (or bitumen) with a relatively high melting temperature. Its large-scale production occurs in the Uinta ...

from Silopi asphaltite mine.

Operation

The plant was built in the early 21st century by Silopi Electric, which is part of the

Ciner Group Ciner Group (known as Park Holding until December 1994) is a Turkish family-owned conglomerate that operates in four main sectors: energy and mining, natural Sodium carbonate, soda ash, container glass, and shipping. Ciner Group was formed in 19 ...

. It is fuelled with

from a nearby mine and serves over 650,000 people. Although its fuel is technically not coal it is regulated similarly; for example, the mining rights were tendered by TKİ, the state Turkish Coal Operations Authority. In 2020 the mining company said it planned an increase from 80 thousand tonnes per year to 250 thousand. Since the plant is further to the south-east than other fossil fuel power stations in Turkey, interconnection with the electricity sector in Iraq may be possible. Despite abundant local renewable resources, under the

energy policy of Turkey Energy consumption per person in Turkey is similar to the world average, and over 85 per cent is from fossil fuels. From 1990 to 2017 annual primary energy supply tripled, but then remained constant to 2019. In 2019, Turkey's primary energy ...

the plant is subsidised: it received

capacity payments Capacity or capacities may refer to: Mathematics, science, and engineering * Capacity of a container, closely related to Volume#Related terms, the volume of the container * Capacity of a set, in Euclidean space, the total charge a set can hold wh ...

of 45 million

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

in 2018, and 61 million in 2019. According to Ciner Group, in addition to the 1,000 direct employees in the plant and nearby mine, the plant supports 2,000 local jobs indirectly.

Environmental impact

It has been claimed that an increase in local illnesses is due to air pollution from the plant, and Hüseyin Kaçmaz, member of parliament for Şırnak, said in 2019 that the plant had damaged local people's health.

Sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...

() and

nitrogen oxides In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tr ...

() emissions were within the 2018 limits, but the SO₂ limit was halved to 200 milligrams per cubic metre from 1st January 2020. Turkey is not a signatory to the

Aarhus Convention The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, usually known as the Aarhus Convention, was signed on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus. It entered into ...

on public access to environmental information, and it is not publicly known how much pollution is currently being emitted. Guidance issued to local middle school teachers by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

describes the plant as environmentally friendly, but pupils are asked to note its advantages and disadvantages together with those of the mine. The power station emits more than 2

megatonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the shor ...

s (Mt) of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

() a year (of the 500 Mt total greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey). As Turkey has no

carbon emission trading Carbon emission trading (also called carbon market, emission trading scheme (ETS) or cap and trade) is a type of emissions trading scheme designed for carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). A form of carbon pricing, its purpose ...

it would not be economically viable to capture and store the gas.

References

Sources

External links

Şırnak Silopi power station
on

Global Energy Monitor Global Energy Monitor (GEM) is a San Francisco–based non-governmental organization which catalogs fossil fuel and renewable energy projects worldwide. GEM shares information in support of clean energy and its data and reports on energy trend ...

Silopi Electric on Ciner Group
{{Power stations in Turkey Coal-fired power stations in Turkey Buildings and structures in Şırnak Province Environmentalism in Turkey

Operation

Environmental impact

See also

References

Sources

External links