The readiness to launch the first reactor of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant has exceeded 90%; Türkiye expects to begin receiving electricity from it in 2025. This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic Alparslan Bayraktarspeaking at an energy conference in Istanbul organized by the Atlantic Council, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
“The construction of our first nuclear reactors is currently ongoing. Four nuclear reactors of the Akkuyu NPP are being built simultaneously in Mersin. The nuclear construction site in Mersin is the world’s largest nuclear power plant construction site. Progress on the first reactor has now exceeded 90%. I hope that we will begin produce the first electricity there in 2025, and by commissioning the remaining three reactors by 2028, we will satisfy 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs from this one nuclear power plant,” the minister said.
Bayraktar said that the Akkuyu nuclear power plant is “not the only nuclear project that Türkiye is targeting” in the context of the development of its energy strategy. “We strive to increase the total capacity of nuclear energy enterprises to 20 thousand megawatts by 2050. This is a long-term goal. Of course, we are talking not only about traditional nuclear power plants, two more of which are planned in Sinop and Thrace, but also about small modular reactors,” – the minister noted.
He also said that Ankara plans to unveil in the coming days an updated energy development strategy for the long term and taking into account the need to decarbonize the industry. “In this context, we are focusing on five key areas of our long-term energy planning as we move towards the goal of decarbonization: renewable energy, energy efficiency, natural gas as a transition fuel, efficient use of fossil fuels and, of course, nuclear energy. this is a mandatory and integral part of our strategy,” Bayraktar said.