Black Sea city readies for new plant

A combined-cycle natural-gas project that will be developed jointly with Austria’s OMV in Terme, near the Black Sea city of Samsun, is expected to contribute to relations between Turkey and Austria.

“This project is very important for OMV, Turkey-Austria relations and project managers,” said Korkut Öztürkmen, the managing director of Borasco Elektrik Üretim Sanayi.

He added that the 870-megawatt project has expanded to cover 444 dunams, or 444,000 square meters, of land in the town of Terme.

Excavation work started 20 days ago, after the Environmental Impact Assessment, or ÇED,report and other authorizations were received.

“This will be hard work. There will be 60 kilometers of natural-gas pipeline and 2x5 kilometers of electricity line,” Öztürkmen said. “This project costs 600 million euros and we are planning to launch it by 2012.”

The project is among the few still continuing amid the financial crisis in order to prevent an energy bottleneck, he added.

“Even though there were many plant projects in Black Sea region, only a few have survived the crisis and our project is one of them,” Öztürkmen said. “When the crisis is over, the electricity bottleneck will again be the first issue on the agenda and our project will gain more importance.”

Rising stakes

According to Öztürkmen, project owner OMV Energy Group’s shares have risen 100 percent. The Vienna-based company transports 40,000 cubic meters of natural gas in Central Europe and Austria while conducting oil exploration and development work in 22 countries, he added.

“It has five refineries in Central Europe. There are oil stations under the name of OMV in Austria and its neighboring countries. It owns 41 percent of Turkey’s Petrol Ofisi and works in the Nabucco consortium,” said Öztürkmen.

Noting that Turkey is very important for OMV, he added: “We would like to have a voice while meeting Turkey’s energy needs. We are building a plant in Romania that is similar to the one in Samsun. We are also planning to make a big project in Germany. In Turkey, we are continuing to work not only on natural gas but also on hydroelectric, solar and wind plants.”

Commenting on the choice of the Black Sea region and Samsun for the natural-gas plant project, Öztürkmen said cold regions are usually preferred in order to increase efficiency and decrease emissions.

“It is also very important that the region is close to a cold sea as these kinds of plants need to be cooled with the sea,” he said. “Another important reason is the closeness to the Blue Stream project. The most qualified gas comes from Russia. Considering all the criteria, Samsun and the Black Sea region appear to be the most suitable area to produce environmentally friendly electricity for our needs.”

There will be no sulfur emissions from the plant, according to Öztürkmen, who added, “There is no possibility for acid rain because the smoke coming from the plant is just water vapor.”

Regarding employment opportunities, he said “benefiting from the region’s opportunities is a must with this project,” which will create a facility that is expected to last for at least 30 years.

“During the construction period, which is a peak period for employment, 800 to 900 people will work,” Öztürkmen said. “However, 100 people will work on average after 2012 as the plant will be a high-tech center.”