ISKENDERUN – November 12, 2026 -- Monitoring near SPIC's Hunutlu Power Plant on Iskenderun Bay in Türkiye has recorded a high of more than 60 sea turtle nests on the adjacent beach, after the plant wrote nesting-ground protection into its engineering design.
Truss bridge replaces trestle and access roads to spare nesting beach
Shanghai Electric Power made preserving the nearby sea turtle reserve a precondition at the planning and design stage. Plant director Zhang Qingbin said the nearby transport trestle and access roads were optimized into a long-span truss bridge, under the guidance of local sea turtle experts, so the nesting area would not be affected.
Plant halts nearby operations and limits night lighting during nesting season
Protected green sea turtles nest on the bay's beaches from late spring to autumn. During that period, the plant voluntarily suspends related operations nearby and controls strong night lighting, so that nesting and hatchlings' entry into the sea are not disturbed.
Before each breeding season, the plant invites experts to brief employees and organizes beach cleanups for hatchlings.
Nest counts rise to about 50 along one kilometer of coast
Sea turtle protection expert Oğuz Türkozan has recorded about 50 nests along more than a kilometer of coastline in recent years, nearly 10 more than before the plant was commissioned. He assesses the local turtle population as stable and credits the plant's conservation efforts.
Visible conservation steps build trust among local villagers
The plant's actions also address local villagers' environmental concerns and have helped it win growing local trust.