SOCAR Turkey Enerji revises plans cogeneration plant in Turkey, construction may begin this year
BAKU. May 30 (Interfax) - SOCAR Turkey Enerji, the Turkish subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), has revised its plans regarding its future cogeneration plant in Turkey, which it now intends to begin building this year.
"The construction of a cogeneration plant is one of the projects that are planned for 2019. The first work to implement it began last year and is gradually gaining momentum," SOCAR Turkey Enerji said in a statement.
According to the company, the plant is expected to provide electricity and steam for the STAR refinery, the Petkim petrochemical complex, and the future Mercury petrochemical complex, which SOCAR plans to build with BP.
The plant will use natural gas as its fuel. It will be built on the territory of the Petkim complex and will occupy 6.17 hectares. Construction is expected to take three years. Its capacity will be 375 MWe/1084 MW.
According to the environmental impact assessment, as of August 2018, the company was expecting investment to total 1.721 billion Turkish liras.
SOCAR Turkey Enerji originally expected the first stage of the plant to be commissioned in early 2018, when the STAR refinery was launched. Preparatory work for the project began in 2016, though the same year the company decided to halt its implementation for technical reasons. At the time, the project was estimated to be worth $670 million. The plant was expected to use cheap imported coal and to produce 293 MW and 1,700 tonnes of steam per hour.
SOCAR Turkey Enerji owns a controlling stake (51%) in the Petkim petrochemical complex. It has also built STAR, a container terminal, and a power plant in Turkey and sells gas to the Turkish market.