The Turkish parliament on Thursday approved an article of an omnibus bill postponing the requirement for using chimney filters and chimney gas purification systems in thermal power plants for two-and-a-half years, Diken news site reported.
Some 15 power plants in Turkey will continue to operate without modernised filters as a result of the amendment made in Turkish law on electricity market.
Two previous bills for a time extension for the companies were previously rejected by the parliament. But this time the extension was approved by 217 votes to 36.
Ali Fazıl Kasap, a lawmaker of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), announced that the amendment had been adopted by the votes of the deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
But, according to the report of environmental rights group 350 Ankara, the amendment could be voted down if all lawmakers from the opposition parties were present in parliament.
The group said 114 lawmakers out of 139 from the CHP, 58 lawmakers out of 62 from the mainly-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and 32 lawmakers out of 39 from the nationalist Good (İYİ) Party had been absent during the vote in the parliament.
Environmental campaigning organisation Greenpeace in early Nov. called for the closure of thermal power plants sharing measurements that showed air pollution around thermal power plants in the western province of Kütahya were three times higher than the limits set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to Greenpeace Turkey paid to 10 thermal power plants as incentives 559 million lira ($97 million) in 2018 and 665 million lira ($116 million) in the first 10 months of 2019.
