Environment Ministry, company push for new units at coal plant linked to severe pollution
The Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry and Çelikler Holding have appealed a court ruling that canceled environmental approval for two planned units at the Afşin-Elbistan A coal-fired power plant in Maraş, southern Turkey.
The Afşin-Elbistan plants have long been at the center of controversy over the air pollution they have caused in the region and their failure to comply with environmental regulations.
Maraş is already one of the provinces with the highest air pollution in Turkey. Environmental groups also link the plants to premature deaths and widespread health problems in the area.
With a combined installed capacity of 2,800 megawatts, 1,400 megawatts each at the A and B plants, the facilities are among Turkey’s largest coal-fired plants.
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The ministry and the company asked the Council of State, the highest administrative court, to overturn a ruling by the Kahramanmaraş 4th Administrative Court, which canceled the expansion of the plant.
The project would add two units with a combined capacity of 688 megawatts to the plant. The ministry issued a favorable Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) decision for the project on Dec 27, 2024.
Greenpeace Turkey, local residents, the Elbistan and Nurhak municipalities, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the TEMA Foundation filed lawsuits challenging the decision. The administrative court canceled the approval in July 2026.
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The court found that the EIA report failed to adequately assess the project’s effects on human health, farmland, water resources and the local ecosystem.
It also said the report did not sufficiently examine the cumulative effects of increased coal production, dust emissions, the hydrogeological consequences of dewatering or potential health risks.
Ministry says EIA complied with regulations
The ministry and Çelikler Holding appealed the cancellation of the EIA . Notably, the petition submitted by the ministry carried the COP31 Presidency logo, as Turkey will host and preside the summit in November.
The ministry argued that the court issued its ruling without examining its objections to the expert reports. It said some of the experts’ findings lacked scientific and technical grounds.
However, after the parties objected to the initial report, the court requested a supplementary assessment from the same panel. The additional report, dated Feb 4, 2026, reaffirmed the original findings.
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The ministry also argued that the new units served the public interest by supporting energy supply security.
Its petition described the project as “an operation that will reduce the investment burden on the public and help ensure energy supply security.”
“Supplying energy from economical, environmentally responsible and secure sources, and encouraging investments capable of meeting growing energy demand, can be achieved by establishing a sound balance between conservation and use in the relationship between the environment and energy, within the framework of sustainable development,” the ministry said.
“This balance is maintained through the implementation of regulations governing the administrative and technical procedures and principles of the environmental impact assessment process. The project’s potential adverse environmental effects, together with the measures to be taken, were examined in detail during the EIA process.”
Plant already fails to meet environmental requirements
A separate expert report was disclosed on Jul 13 in a lawsuit seeking the cancellation of the environmental permit and license for Unit 4, which remains operational.
The report found that the plant failed to meet even the minimum technical requirements of its Environmental Permit and License Certificate regarding air emissions.
It described the shortcomings as “structural and continuous” and said the measures taken were “inadequate and unsuitable” under national and international standards.
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Company disputes scientific basis of expert reports
The Afşin Elbistan Elektrik Üretim ve Ticaret A.Ş. company, a Çelikler Holding subsidiary, argued in its appeal that the expert reports cited by the court were “based on assumptions” and did not follow scientific methods.
The company said the court had issued an “incomplete and erroneous ruling without considering its objections.”
It said the AERMOD system had been used for air quality modeling and that emissions calculations complied with regulations.
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The company also said the health protection zone outlined in the EIA report had been determined through cumulative assessments and dust and noise modeling.
It argued that the new units would use “advanced technology” and keep emissions below legal limits.
The company also maintained that engineering controls, administrative measures and medical monitoring would be sufficient to prevent risks involving occupational illnesses, public health and agriculture.
Greenpeace points to contradiction with COP31 role
Greenpeace Turkey climate and energy campaigner Emel Türker Alpay said the government’s insistence on expanding a coal-fired power plant that had received unfavorable expert assessments contradicted its COP31 role.
“Turkey is the president and host of this year’s COP31 climate summit,” Alpay said. “COP31 President Murat Kurum frequently emphasizes that this will be an ‘implementation COP.’”
“This means taking steps to implement the agreement reached at COP28 to ‘transition away from fossil fuels.’ Canceling new coal-fired power plant projects should be among the first of those steps.”
“Yet a petition carrying the COP31 Presidency logo is now being used to challenge the cancellation of two additional units that expert reports have found do not serve the public interest,” she said.
“This directly exposes the contradiction between rhetoric and action. It also shows the continuation of a paradigm based not on an ‘implementation COP,’ but on a ‘COP of inconsistencies.’”
Alpay said the appeal was being pursued even though an expert report had found that the plant’s existing units could not meet current legal limits.
“We expect the court to stand by its decision,” she said.
Plant was shut down in 2020 over missing filters
Coal-fired power plants have operated in the Afşin-Elbistan region for about 40 years. Local residents and environmental organizations have long campaigned against their effects on air quality, public health, farmland and water resources.
In 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vetoed legislation backed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), ruling party, that would have delayed requirements for coal plants to install flue gas filters.
After the legislation failed to take effect, the filters became mandatory as of Jan 1, 2020.
Coal-fired plants reopen: Engineers cast doubt on minister's statement that 'obligations fulfilled'
The Afşin-Elbistan plant was among the facilities shut down during that period. It resumed operations shortly afterward after pledging to install flue gas treatment and ash filtration systems.
The plant completed the work only six years later.
The outcome of the dispute over the new units will affect not only energy investment in the region, but also Turkey’s coal policy and the consistency of its climate messaging ahead of COP31. (HA/VK)
bianet's Freedom of Expression Reporter since June 2018. After interning at bianet in 2013, he took part in several bianet projects. His news reports and articles have been published on various platforms such as Expression Interrupted, susma24.com, Jıneps, Inside Turkey, and tol.org. He has contributed numerous interviews and articles on freedom of expression. His writings have been translated into several languages, including English, French, Italian, and Circassian. His photographs from the March 8, 2018 Feminist Night March were exhibited by the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He is the recipient of the 27th Metin Göktepe Journalism Award and holds a degree in journalism from Erciyes University.
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