Russia’s state-run nuclear energy agency on Monday said European Union sanctions would not pose an issue for the financing of Türkiye’s $20 billion nuclear power plant.
Rosatom is building Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Türkiye’s first, on the Mediterranean coast. Ankara aims to start operating the first reactor at the plant by the middle of 2023, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye.
Akkuyu is the world’s first nuclear power plant project implemented through a build-own-operate model. Under the long-term contract, Rosatom has agreed to provide the power plant’s design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning.
Kirill Komarov, the first deputy CEO of Rosatom, stressed Russia was solely responsible for project financing, which he said is fully funded for the next few years.
The funding comes from Rosatom’s own funds and loans from Russian banks. Last year alone, said Komarov, Rosatom for the first time acquired more than $800 million in green financing from banks, along with regular loans not linked to green commitments.
“So, today, the situation with the project is absolutely stable. I can say that the sanctions had no effect on it. Today, nothing in the nuclear energy sector in the world is under any sanctions,” he told the international nuclear energy conference Atomexpo 2022 in Russia’s coastal city of Sochi.
Komarov dubbed Akkuyu as the current largest nuclear power plant construction site in the world, with a capacity of almost 5 gigawatts (GW), and the only site in the world where four reactors are being built at the same time.
“This is truly a unique situation, and we are proud of it. Work at the construction site is going very well,” he said.
With a project of this size, more than 20,000 people are employed on-site, and the most active project phase is currently ongoing, with the scheduled completion of the first unit along with the delivery of nuclear fuel set for 2023.
The remaining three reactors are due to start operation by the end of 2026, at a rate of one per year to ultimately have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts (MW).
Once completed, the plant is expected to produce up to 10% of domestic electricity needs.
The plant, which will have an estimated service life of 60 years with the possibility to extend it for another 20 years, will produce carbon-free energy around the clock.
As a baseload plant, it will play a leading role in reducing dependence on imported energy resources, especially natural gas.
The giant project is expected to employ around 4,000 people during its operations.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously suggested that Türkiye could work with Russia on the construction of two further plants.
Negotiations on what would be Türkiye's second nuclear power plant have started, Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said last week. The plant is planned to be built in the northern province of Sinop, Bayraktar said.
“We need at least 16 to 20 reactors, according to our initial estimates, or we need 12 to 16 reactors in addition to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant to be a carbon-neutral economy by the turn of the century,” he told the Atomexpo 2022 conference.
Bayraktar also disclosed that Türkiye is in talks with South Korean and U.S. companies for nuclear energy development, while negotiations are ongoing with the Chinese government for the third power plant.
Rosatom General Manager Alexey Likhachev last week said with nuclear energy on the verge of a transformation, Russia is prioritizing Türkiye, Bangladesh, Hungary, Egypt and African countries for the construction of nuclear power plants.
Rosatom holds a 99.2% stake in the Akkuyu plant that is estimated to cost around $20 billion, marking the biggest investment in Türkiye’s history implemented at a single site.
Komarov refuted claims that the plant would generate power at high prices, which when the agreement was signed in 2010 between Russia and Türkiye were expected to be around $0.12 per kilowatt-hour.
According to Komarov, the current generation price range is between $0.18 and $0.20 per kilowatt-hour, a level that is much higher than $0.12 per kilowatt-hour, which will prevail regardless of the cost of uranium in the world or the cost of other energy sources.
“The electricity produced by the plant will cost Türkiye $0.12, a stable and predictable price. This is a huge advantage for Türkiye,” he said.
