Power plant pitches in after earthquakes in Turkiye

More than 70 Turkish employees, with 11 bringing their families, have found shelter in the compound of the Emba Hunutlu Power Plant, China's biggest direct investment in Turkiye, after recent earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria, according to the plant's management.

Located in Turkiye's Adana province about 110 kilometers from the epicenter, the plant stood firm after two strong earthquakes on Feb 6. With another three power plants in the region badly damaged in the earthquakes, the plant has launched emergency repairs and earthquake relief to ensure the local power supply and the safety of people's lives, according to Zhang Qingbin, director of the plant.

"There were no casualties among the employees at the plant, but the earthquake has caused some damage to the plant's facilities, which include a hydrogen leak in one generator that risks a whole unit's operation," Zhang said.

The power plant, equipped with two 660,000-kilowatt units, has a capacity of generating 9 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually at full operation.

With support from the plant's parent company, Shanghai Electric Power of State Power Investment Corporation, the station managed to fix the hydrogen leak without shutting off the generator four days after the earthquakes. According to conventional practice, a generator that suffers a hydrogen leak needs to be shut down for maintenance, which usually takes at least three days, according to Yang Yiwen, deputy director of the plant who led the repair of the leakage.

On Feb 10, Abdullah Tancan, Turkiye's deputy minister of energy, made a thank-you call to the plant for sustaining electricity supplies for around 4 million people in quake-affected areas, according to Zhang.

The plant has also cooperated in disaster relief operations, providing relief supplies to Adana and Malatya provinces, supporting power plant ambulances, and housing many family members of employees in plant dormitories, according to Zhang.

On Feb 7, the plant learned that the Chinese National Rescue Team would arrive at Adana Airport in the early morning of Feb 8, but because they could not carry a large number of relief materials, the rescue team needed the help of local Chinese-funded enterprises to find logs for the rescue effort. As Adana is also a quake-hit area, most timber and wood-processing factories were out of action, but with help of its local staff, the plant managed to procure enough logs and deliver them to the rescue team in less than 11 hours.

Many families and friends of the local employees came to help, according to Zhang.

"The Chinese have come to Turkiye to help with the rescue from thousands of miles away. Thinking about the brothers and sisters who have been crushed under the rubble, we should race against time to prepare relief," Abdulhamit Ogur, a local employee of the plant, said in tears.

Nearly one-third of the plant's Turkish employees had their homes damaged during the earthquakes, making some completely uninhabitable, according to Zhang.

The plant accommodated the families of the affected employees, and provided canteen meals, medicines and daily necessities.

The plant is working on repairing other damage, including the derailment of a coal uploader on the wharf, according to Zhang.

"Domestic professional institutions will be invited to further evaluate the damage of the buildings in the factory area, eliminate hidden dangers, and ensure the safe production and long-term stability of the power plant," Zhang said.