LONDON, July 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global provider of energy and commodities information, has introduced four new price assessments aimed at helping Turkey's utilities better determine power costs and bringing greater clarity to one of Europe's burgeoning power transit hubs.

"With the new assessments, Turkish and European utilities and risk managers, alike, will be better able to assess power generation profitability by more easily comparing the use of natural gas versus coal as the feedstock for electricity production," said Darren Stetzel, editor of Platts' new market report supplement Turkish Power Weekly*.

The four daily assessments are:


    --  Platts Turkish Month-Ahead Baseload Power: Prices for month-ahead
        delivery, which are also published as a rolling monthly average.


    --  Platts Turkish Month-Ahead Spark Spread - 45% efficiency**: An indicator
        of the profitability of 45%-efficient natural gas-fired power plants.


    --  Platts Turkish Month-Ahead Spark Spread - 50% efficiency: An indicator
        of the profitability of 50%-efficient natural gas-fired power plants.


    --  Platts Turkish Month-Ahead Dark Spread - 40% efficiency: An indicator of
        the profitability of 40%-efficient coal-fired power plants.

Expressed in Turkish Lira and Euros per megawatt hour, the price assessments are underpinned by Platts' time-tested robust methodology, full details of which may be found on Platts.com.

Not only are the assessments published in Platts' European Power Daily, they're central to the just-launched weekly supplement Turkish Power Weekly, a first-of-its-kind market report that provides a holistic view of Turkey's electricity markets.

Unique to Turkish Power Weekly is its partnering of information beyond benchmark-quality price references and fundamental analysis of Turkey's electricity, natural gas, liquefied natural gas and thermal coal markets. It also features information such as weather and precipitation projections, which are key indicators of hydropower generation, as well as steel data and prices which relate to power infrastructure and shed light on thermal coal use.

"Turkish Power Weekly is truly a one-stop solution for understanding Turkey's power supply and demand mix and facilitating better-informed business decisions," said Ben Legg, Platts commercial director of European power and gas.

For more information on the new Tuesday supplement, electric power and other information, visit the Platts website www.platts.com.

* Turkish Power Weekly is a July, 2014-launched supplement to Platts European Power Daily, a markets information publication.

**Power plant efficiency is the percentage of a plant's fuel that is converted into electricity.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 180 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is based in London with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), a financial intelligence company, is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. Iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 29 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

SOURCE Platts