TURKEY RECAP, 11 MARCH, 2025
AMASRA — In 2024, Turkey became Europe’s top polluter in terms of energy production from fossil fuels.
The shift came as industrial centers in Germany and Poland moved away from coal-fired electricity while Turkey faced rising energy demands, part of which it met with the least efficient and most polluting type of coal: lignite.
Also known as brown coal, lignite is abundant throughout Turkey, especially along its northwestern Black Sea coast. This includes the Amasra district in Bartın province, where coal production has long been a source of both employment and communal tensions as environmental groups work to curb fossil fuel emissions.
| . »There are no jobs in this region. It’s a tiny place … That’s why we have to work here. We know the harms of coal-fired power plants, but we don’t want to be unemployed either,” a coal miner in Amasra told Turkey recap, requesting anonymity to avoid reprisal from his employer, Hattat Holding.Turkey’s growing coal use is the result of many intersecting trends which often pit coal workers seeking jobs against community activists seeking cleaner air and environmental protections.At the same time, the nation’s growing industrial base has raised demands for cheap energy, like lignite, which conflicts with Turkey’s obligations as a Paris Agreement signatory, further fueling social movements against new coal projects. Hattat Holding In 2013, Turkish conglomerate Hattat Holding signed a $2.4 billion agreement with China’s Harbin Electric International to build a 2,640 MW power plant in Amasra. The project planned to use hard coal – which is slightly more efficient and less polluting than lignite – but the power plant construction was rejected in a 2024 court decision following years of protests by local residents. Other coal power plant projects in the province have also been halted by court decisions. Throughout, Hattat Holding has continued to pursue new energy projects as the company operates local coal mines. Hattat employees said they earn salaries of up to 40,000 liras a month – above Turkey’s current minimum wage of 26,005. Though according to the Hattat employee quoted above, the company has been attempting to sway public opinion by promising higher wages if it can resume plans to build the new coal-fired power plant. “As workers, we want the transition to a [new] power plant so that our wages increase,” the Hattat employee said, adding most company workers vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which they believe is more likely to green light the power plant. With economic, political and environmental interests at play, coal production can be a highly contentious topic, even at family dinner tables, the Hattat employee told Turkey recap. “In the same family, workers and relatives that are part of an environmental movement have come to a point of fighting with each other,” Hattat employee said. Hattat Holding representatives did not respond to requests for comment for this report. |