The UK company Balfour Beatty has decided not to pursue its interest in the Ilisu dam project in Turkey. The company said that its decision followed a thorough and extensive evaluation of the commercial, environmental and social issues inherent in the project. It has rejected claims by a former UK government minister that it had withdrawn from the scheme because it could not guarantee rapid access to export credits.
The hydropower project on the river Tigris would have displaced Kurds and had met with environmental disapprobation. An environmental impact report completed earlier this year put forward a number of recommendations to the Turkish General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works, the commissioning body, covering the social and environmental issues posed by the project.
The British government had indicated that it would approve export credits for the scheme, subject to a set of conditions, but delays have made the project appear less viable. The Swedish construction group Skanska had already withdrawn and the leader of the consortium planning to construct the scheme, Sulzer Hydro, was sold last year to Austrian company VA Tech.
Turkey says it will continue with the project.
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