The project could have severe impacts:

• on the region’s drinking water reservoir, Yenice-Gönen streamlet, only 2 kilometers away from the project area;
• on 28,606 ares of arable land on which more than 10,000 people are dependent;
• on eco-tourism, as the area hosts thousands of local and international tourists every year visiting Mount Ida national park, which is known for its biodiversity and hiking trails.

Health and pollution impacts:

• As the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment acknowledges, the lignite to be extracted and used for the power plant is quite low-rank (1200 kcal/kg) with a high level of ash (53%). As lignite has a much lower energy density than hard coal, three times more lignite needs to be combusted for the same amount of electricty production. For this reason, more pollutants get emmited by a lignite power plant than a hard coal plant. Turkish lignite has low caloric value and high levels of ash, humidity and sulphur; thus, it causes more air pollution;
• Moreover, studies clearly demonstrate that the cumulative impact of planned coal power plants in the Çanakkale region may cause asthma for 4,440 children and 36,000 adults.

Currently (2020), Turkey has 47 grid-connected coal power plants emitting about 140 million tons of CO2 annually. At the same time, Turkey is planning to expand its fleet of coal power plants. The Canakkale region in Turkey is one of the main hotspots for new coal-fired power plant developments in Turkey, with 13 projects with a total capacity of 15,000 MW now proposed. The Çırpılar coal power plant would emit about 5 million tons of CO2 per year. Having more than 70 new coal power plants by 2023 in total in Turkey, as is new planned, would add 200 million tons of CO2 emissions, which would make Turkey one of the world’s major emitters and a ticking climate bomb right next to the EU.

The levels of toxic particles and NO2 in the air over the entire Canakkale region and beyond would increase the risk of diseases such as stroke, lung cancer, heart and respiratory diseases in adults, as well as respiratory symptoms in children. This leads to premature deaths from these causes. SO2, NOx and dust emissions contribute to toxic particle exposure.

The project also risks the pristine environment of Mount Ida and its vast biodiversity. In 2015, local authorities in the area submitted an application to include the mountain in UNESCO's World Heritage list.