Turkey's Energy Group Ciner Expands in Soda Ash Production with TCC

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ciner Group (Istanbul, Turkey), a Turkish holding with main interests in energy and mining, will invest $1.35 billion in a soda ash production plant in Kazan, Ankara. Ciner signed an agreement with China Tianchen Engineering Corporation (TCC) (Tianjin, China) on Friday. According to the agreement, the venture will build an 800-megawatt (MW) cogeneration facility in Kazan for soda ash, which is used to make glass, and PVC, a plastic used in construction.

"With this investment, we become the major soda ash producer in the world. Each dollar produced will become a foreign currency inflow to Turkey," said Turgay Ciner, the chairman of Ciner Group, in signing ceremony. "The project is planned to be completed in 2016-2017, and it will be five-phase eclectic structure. Soda would form $1.3 billion of the $1.7 billion of exportation." He also said that the project will be financed with loans from Chinese banks.

Ciner's Kazan Soda Elektrik Chairman Nedim Sener said that the project will have an annual production of 2.7 million tonnes of soda ash. Ciner Group also holds a 74% stake at Eti Soda AS, the country's biggest soda ash producer, which is located near Beypazari, Ankara.

"Kazan an Eti Soda will have a combined soda ash production of 4.4 million tons when both plants become fully operational," Sener said. The project will employ 2,200 people.

"We'll use the 165 MW of the produced electricity in the Kazan plant, and we'll sell the rest to market," Sener said. Kazan Soda will use trona as a raw material to produce soda ash and sodium bicarbonate. According to the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute (MTA) estimates, the Ankara basin holds 1.1 billion tonnes of proven trona reserves.

Meanwhile, Taner Yildiz, Turkey's Energy Minister, said that Turkey's growth rate in its energy sector was the highest among countries in the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development. "On one hand, we hold changes, and on the other hand, we keep growing," Yildiz said.

He also stated that the government will choose the firms for a third nuclear plant in the near future. Currently, the firms from South Korea, Japan, Canada and China are bidding for the project.

According to latest report on Turkey, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the country "will likely see the fastest medium- to long-term growth in energy demand among the IEA member countries."

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