Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) won approval from Turkey's energy watchdog to go ahead with building its $20 billion Akkuyu nuclear power plant in southern Turkey.
It is now expected to be completed by 2023 and should meet 6-7% of Turkey's electricity demand once it is fully operational, energy watchdog EPDK said in a statement.
EPDK said it had given Rosatom's project company Akkuyu Nukleer AS a 49-year production license.
Rosatom initially pledged to have the first of the four reactors in Akkuyu ready by 2019 before it suffered delays, Reuters reported.
EPDK said on Thursday that Akkuyu Nukleer had agreed to accelerate construction so that all four reactors would be built by 2023, the centenary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic, rather than 2025 as previously agreed by Russia and Turkey.
