Electricity production has stopped at the Kangal thermal power plant in Sivas, central Türkiye, and most of its roughly 1,000 workers are being sent on leave, according to Sözcü and soL. Both outlets based their reports on a letter the company sent to the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the country’s markets regulator.
The coal-fired plant in Kangal district has been generating power since 1989. It was privatised in 2013 and handed to Konya Şeker, soL and Haber Ege reported.
Coal supply cut
The reports name Köseoğlu Madencilik as the contractor working the plant’s licensed coal fields since 2019. That company stopped mining and shipping coal from 30 October 2026, citing unpaid receivables, all three reports said. The plant has no other source of coal.
The company also pointed to technical failures, which it said had caused production losses and a sharp fall in revenue and left the plant unable to keep running on economic grounds. In its letter, cited by both Sözcü and soL, it said halting operations had become unavoidable as a natural result of these problems.
What happens to workers
A minimum crew will stay on for technical, administrative and financial work. Everyone else is being sent on leave until production restarts, according to the reports. Workers with unused annual leave will take that paid leave first and then move to unpaid leave. Workers with no annual leave left go straight to unpaid leave. Sözcü and Haber Ege put the workforce, including subcontractor staff, at 950 to 1,000 people.
For more on Türkiye’s energy plans, see our reports on the national energy vision to 2040 and the new environmental impact rules for thermal and nuclear plants.
Sources
- 37 yıllık dev santralde üretim durdu! Yüzlerce işçi evlerine gönderildi (Sözcü)
- 37 yıllık Kangal Termik Santrali’nde üretim durdu: Yaklaşık bin işçi izne çıkarılıyor (soL)
- Kangal Termik’te kömür krizi: İşçiler izne çıkarılıyor (Haber Ege)
Photo: Hüseyin Öcal / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
