Turkish firm to construct plant with Chinese

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News , Monday, January 11, 2010

Galata Energy, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Global Yatırım Holding, has signed a deal with a Chinese company to construct a 270-megawatt power plant in the southeastern city of Şırnak.

The Turkish firm, which currently holds a license from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, or EMRA, has signed a turnkey contract with the China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation (CMEC), financing US $355 million for the construction of the circulating-fluidized-bed-boiler power plant.

The investment is expected to support the meeting of Turkey’s growing energy demand through local sources, the firm said in a written statement last week.

The Şırnak power plant is expected to generate annual electricity corresponding to approximately 1.7 billion kilowatts per hour (what is this??? :-))). Some 1,000 people (Chinese???) will be employed during the construction period, which is predicted to take approximately 38 months. Once operational, the plant will employ 2,400 people (Chinese??), including mine personnel.

The asphaltite reserve has been modeled in detail through a series of 8,470-meter-deep drillings into the mine. The coal mine will provide energy to the power plant as technical specifications are determined, according to a company filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, last week.

Following the analysis conducted by the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency, or TAEK, it was announced that there would be no unfavorable conditions related to the storage of the power plant’s ash waste.

One ton of limestone from deposits north of Şırnak, along with five tons of asphaltite from the mine, were delivered to Germany and subjected to a burning test at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The emissions were reported to be in accordance with the EU Directive for Mass-Burning Boilers.

The Şırnak power-plant project was granted a positive decision on its Environmental Impact Assessment through a decree by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, dated Jan. 8, 2009.