Applications from 12 ventures have been received by the Energy & Natural Resources Ministry for the construction, on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, of four large thermal power plants fuelled by lignite (brown coal). With a total capacity of 2,500 MW, their combined estimated cost is roughly $2,750 million (MEED 20:1:95).

Approval has also been granted by the Council of Ministers for the award of a contract for the operation and maintenance, including rehabilitation, of the 1,360-MW Afsin-Elbistan A thermal power plant, also fuelled by lignite. Some controversy has arisen over the award (MEED 3:3:95).

Afsin-Elbistan A was completed in the second half of the 1980s, but due to technical problems, has been operating at below capacity. A second stage of the plant, Afsin-Elbistan B, is also included in the BOT projects listed below.

The four BOT projects are:

Afsin-Elbistan B in Kahramanmaras province. The installed capacity will be 4-by-340-MW units, and the probable coal reserve in the area for the plant is around 919 million tonnes.

Beysehir in Konya province. The installed capacity will be 2-by-170- MW units, and the probable coal reserve is about 162 million tonnes.

Saray in Tekirdag province. The installed capacity will be 2-by-150- MW units, and the probable coal reserve is about 130 million tonnes.

Tufanbeyli in Adana province. The installed capacity will be 2-by-150- MW units, or 1-by-300-MW, and the probable coal reserve is around 284 million tonnes.

The applicants for all or some of the above projects include the following international and local companies: Adirondack Turkey Venture; Dogus with the US' Houston Industry Energy; ST-FA Energy, Telecommunication, Industry & Trade; Mage with the UK's Southern Electric; AES Energy; the US' Mission; Guris with Babcock & Wilcox Espanola; the US' Charlie R Flynt; Italy's Cooperative Muratori Cementisti (CMCD) Ravenna; Italy's Ansaldo Energia; the US' Coastal; and a company identified as GEPCO.

Following the award in principle for the Afsin-Elbistan A contract, negotiations with the Erg-Verbund venture are continuing over matters like financing, according to Energy Ministry officials. The total investment required over the 20 years of the contract is roughly estimated at about $1,200 million, they say.

Around $110 million will be invested in the addition of two more 340- MW units at the plant. The scheme will also bring about a substantial improvement in electricity generation through the rehabilitation of the plant's four 340-MW generating units. The contract will also include the operation of the plant's coal lignite extraction processes.

All the above projects form part of a renewed privatisation drive for the electricity sector following the passage of fundamental legislation towards the end of 1994 (MEED 9:12:94). The government's Privatisation Administration (OIB) is expected to invite bids in 1995 for the sale of 10 thermal power stations, with a total output of about 5,250 MW, for a total of around $5,000 million - including two fired by gas and eight by lignite.