07 January 2025

Climate NGOs: Cancel the New Coal-Fired Power Plant Project in Afşin and Elbistan

January 7, 2025, Istanbul – Civil society organizations working in the field of climate call for the cancellation of the new coal-fired power plant project in Afşin and Elbistan, citing the environmental and public health damage caused by existing power plants in the region.

Kahramanmaraş has been living under the shadow of coal for 40 years. The Afşin-Elbistan A and B power plants currently have a total of 8 units with a capacity of 2,795 MW. Despite the evident environmental and public health damage caused by these existing plants, energy investments in the region continue unabated.

Plans are in place to add two more units with a combined capacity of 688 MW to the Afşin-Elbistan A Power Plant. On December 27, 2024, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change issued a “Positive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report” for these additional units, which are equivalent to building a new coal-fired power plant.

Climate-focused civil society organizations stress that the region cannot bear another coal-fired power plant and have outlined the adverse impacts of the existing plants on human health and ecosystems as follows:

• Emission data from the Afşin-Elbistan A Power Plant shows pollutant levels exceeding regulatory limits by up to eight times. These emissions, including carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM10), are linked to numerous health issues ranging from respiratory and heart problems to cancer. The additional units will only exacerbate the existing air pollution.
• Records from the Elbistan Health Group Directorate under the Ministry of Health show an eightfold increase in cancer cases following the opening of the Afşin-Elbistan A Plant.
• According to a health impact model analyzing the effects of the two existing plants, they caused 17,500 premature deaths between their inception and 2020. Even with complete flue gas filtration, the planned additional units could cause 2,268 premature deaths. The total economic cost of these health impacts is estimated at 88.4 billion TRY.
• Expanding the plant will leave the local population without adequate water resources and jeopardize drinking, household, and irrigation water supplies. According to the EIA Report, the new units will consume eight times the annual water consumption of Afşin district.
• Academic studies in the region have shown significant increases in heavy metals and trace elements such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, zinc, manganese, and molybdenum in soils near the plants. This situation threatens public health, reduces agricultural productivity, and diminishes livelihoods.
• Coal consumption is a leading cause of climate change. Building a new coal-fired power plant contradicts Turkey’s 2053 net-zero carbon goal. New coal-fired power plant projects must be canceled for a healthy and safe life.

A Call from Afşin and Elbistan: Enough is Enough!
Mehmet Dalkanat from the Elbistan Platform for Protecting Life and Nature stated:

*”The ash and gases raining down on the people living near the power plant have unfortunately left no one healthy in the region. Migratory birds no longer come here, and the 5,000-year-old vineyards no longer produce grapes. Over 40 years, we’ve turned much of the beautiful Elbistan Plain, a first-class agricultural area, into a desert. Enough is enough. Afşin and Elbistan cannot bear another power plant. Moreover, we are no longer dependent on coal for electricity production. We have clean and affordable alternatives to ensure energy independence. The investment cost for the new coal plant is estimated at 37 billion TRY. If we use this funding to build a solar power plant instead, we could meet the annual electricity needs of 688,000 households in the region. What we need is not new coal-fired power plants, but a recovery process after the earthquake and a new city resilient to disasters where we can live in dignity.”*