Hydro project steers around objections

By David O’Byrne
Published: June 8 2009 17:03

For many people the term “hydroelectric power” brings to mind a litany of evils ranging from the forced resettlement of towns and villages to the destruction of ancient and historic settlements and wildlife reserves.
But Turkey’s demand for power is expected to grow by an average 8 to 9 per cent every 12 months over the next 15 years, and in a worst-case scenario could outstrip generation in two to three years. Given these factors, the country’s energy strategy has long been to make best use of its domestic resources.
In particular, it has sought to exploit an abundant potential for hydroelectric power – despite criticism of the possible environmental and human cost. A prime example of this is the Ilisu dam, flagship of a project on the Tigris in Turkey’s south-east, which has run into a storm of protest.
But there is another side to the story, according to Hakan Kazanc, group coordinator of the engineering group BM Muhendislik. He argues that besides dams that damage the environment, there are also hydropower projects designed to minimise environmental impact, and even to improve on nature by allowing control over unwanted seasonal flooding.
One such project is the 290MW Kayraktepe hydro plant that BM Muhendislik is developing on the Göksu river in the mountains above Turkey’s east Mediterranean coast.
First developed in the 1970s by Turkey’s state water authority, the Devlet Su Isleri (DSI) planned a single 125m-high dam that would flood close to 5,000 hectares of valuable agricultural land and displace 10 villages.
With the reservoir and dam severely restricting the flow of water, the huge wetlands around the Göksu delta – one of Turkey’s most important wildlife sanctuaries – would dry out. Unsurprisingly, the project ran into legal problems.
After shelving the project for nearly 30 years, the DSI two years ago put it out to tender, inviting the private sector to come up with designs that could produce at least the same amount of electricity as the original plan and overcome the legal obstacles.
BM Muhendislik, which has been building dams and other hydropower projects for 40 years, won the tender and claims to have easily met the criteria on minimising environmental impact.
Mr Kazanc, with barely concealed pride, points out that his company’s new design for the Kayraktepe project has slashed the area of flooded land and will deliver about 5 per cent more power – 17m KWh as opposed to 16.3m KWh.
Key to achieving this is the replacement of the old design’s enormous dam with eight small cascade regulator units. Sitting directly in the river flow like a weir, the units contain turbines.
With no need for the huge reservoir required by a traditional dam-based project, river flow is maintained at normal levels with just some small areas of flooding.
“We’ve reduced the flooded area by around 90 per cent, meaning that no villages have to be evacuated and the wildlife sanctuary in the river delta will be completely unaffected,” Mr Kazanc explains.
He says the project also preserves the area’s valuable agricultural land and existing irrigation systems, and doubles as a flood regulation system.
At the same time the eight low-rise installations are less unsightly, and their visible impact can be reduced further by planned re-forestation.
Having won the right to build and operate the new plant for 49 years, BM has recently put in its final plan.
“We’ve submitted our design feasibility study and once that’s approved we can begin work on the detailed engineering for the project and on the finances,” explains Mr Kazanc.
Once the bureaucracy is in place BM Muhendislik expects to begin construction by mid 2010 and put the the plant into operation by the middle of 2012.
....................................................................................................................
The heat is on
The recent announcement of improved guarantees to buy power from plants using renewable energy resources promises a surge in new projects. With potential wind power sites already subject to bids for more plants than they can sustain, interest will focus on Turkey’s unquantified geothermal power, and its huge solar power potential.
Engineering group BM Muhendislik, which already holds 142 geothermal exploration licences covering 7,000 sq km in Turkey’s Aegean region, is looking at both – and considering a pioneering hybrid geothermal-solar plant.
The company has already drilled seven wells and filed applications for preliminary operating rights to two resevoirs of superheated geothermal steam. It is working on a third while continuing its exploration and says it will make investment decisions on the three sites this year.
The geothermal-solar plant would use geothermal steam to power a first series of generators after which the hot water, now below 100 degrees centigrade, would be reheated in a ”solar tower” – a kind of vertical furnace heated by an array of large mirrors.
Although technology for both types of plant already exists, if it goes ahead this will be the first time the two have been combined and may serve as a model for future projects in other parts of the world.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009