An artist's rendering of the Emba Hunutlu coal plant Credit: EMBA
In Turkey, on the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean, a massive effort is underway to build a 1,320-megawatt coal power plant. The Emba Hunutlu power station, according to activists working to halt its construction, will pollute the air and destroy the habitat of a nationally protected sea turtle species. What’s more, once the project is finished, the rising price of coal might prevent it from ever becoming economically viable.
Nevertheless, three Chinese state banks — the China Development Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Bank of China — are financing the project with a loan worth more than $1.3 billion. And Shanghai Electric Power, a Chinese state-run power company, is building it.
“Chinese finance is quite appealing and tempting to Turkey these days because of current economic issues and the country’s search for new sources of finance,” says Ozlem Katisoz, the climate and energy policy coordinator for Turkey at Climate Action
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