Turkey to break ground on Akkuyu NPP by latest early 2018

Turkey’s atomic energy authority is working on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant and efforts to hold the groundbreaking by latest early 2018 are underway, Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said at the Turkish Energy Summit in the southern province of Antalya. 

He stressed that the ceremony of laying the foundation of the nuclear power plant is expected to be attended by the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In addition, Albayrak pointed out that the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant is scheduled to be completed in 2023, TRT Haber television channel reported.

Akkuyu is the world's first nuclear power plant project implemented on BOO ("build-own-operate") basis. In accordance with this model, Russia will build, own and operate the plant. Akkuyu NPP project includes four power units with Russian VVER-1200 3+ generation reactors. Moscow will pour $22 billion into its project of building the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. 

A leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, a lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Igor Yushkov, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Akkuyu will be built according to Rosatom's common scheme: the project's implementation and operation of the station will be fully provided by the state corporation. "Rosatom attracts a loan, build a nuclear power plant using Russia's money, and the joint Russian-Turkish company will be engaged in the sale of electricity from the station. They will share profits to repay the loan," he said.

At the same time he drew attention to the fact that, in fact, there could be a competition between Rosatom and Gazprom in Turkey, as both companies are engaged in supplying resources to the Turkish energy sector. "When Akkuyu is put into operation, nuclear power generation will start to compete with gas generation in Turkey, which means that two state-owned Russian companies will compete in the foreign market, so there are pros and cons. Rosatom, of course, benefits from the construction of nuclear power plant, but the benefits for the Russian budget must be calculated: whether it be more profitable to supply gas to Turkey for 50 years or build a nuclear power plant just once ," Igor Yushkov pointed out.

Speaking about the station itself, the expert said that it is the most modern station by Russian standards. "Rosatom's Akkuyu nuclear power plant project is one of the most modern and the safest in the world," the leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund assured.