Russia has offered Turkey $9 billion in new financing for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, with the first reactor expected to become operational in 2026, the energy minister said.
Rosatom, a Russian state-controlled company, is building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu, in Mersin province on the Mediterranean coast, under a 2010 deal worth $20 billion. The plant, with a capacity of 4,800 megawatts, was supposed to become operational this year, but it was postponed, reports
“Most likely, this (funding) will be used in 2026-2027. There will be at least $4-5 billion from there for 2026 in terms of external funding,” Bayraktar said at a press conference in Istanbul, according to an Energy Ministry statement.
Bayraktar also said that Turkey is in talks with companies from South Korea, China, Russia and the United States regarding nuclear power plant projects in Sinop province and Thrace region and added that Ankara wants to receive “the most competitive offer”.
Also, the Minister of Energy revealed that Turkey is in talks with the ACWA Power company from Saudi Arabia for photovoltaic parks with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts.
“We will finalize the agreement for this project in the first quarter of 2026, for 2,000 megawatts in the first phase. We are talking about a solar energy project of 2,000 megawatts; 1,000 megawatts in Sivas and 1,000 megawatts in Taseli,” said Bayraktar.
“We are also discussing a solar energy and storage project with another company in the Gulf. The approximate cost of the investment is between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars,” added Bayraktar, without providing further details.
Turkey’s plans aim to build more than 20 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050. In addition to the Akkuyu plant, the second plant is planned to be built on the Black Sea coast, in the Sinope region, and a third nuclear plant would be built in the Thrace region of northwestern Turkey.
