The gap left by the holdup of critical equipment by Germany's Siemens earmarked for Türkiye's first nuclear power plant is being closed, Russian conglomerate Rosatom, the builder, said on Monday.
Officials in September said the opening of Akkuyu's first reactor has been delayed by a few months after Siemens Energy withheld some parts scheduled for the nuclear power plant Rosatom is constructing near the Mediterranean port city of Mersin.
Türkiye appealed to Germany, but the withheld parts problem remained unresolved, prompting Rosatom to place an alternative order with China to keep construction on schedule.
Siemens refused to supply the equipment for a gas-insulted substation that is needed to transmit power from the plant to the electric grid, despite already having produced it, Rosatom General Manager Aleksey Likhachev said.
"When we realized we were having an issue with Siemens, we reached out to our Chinese friends, and they extended a helping hand. Chinese specialists came and installed more than half of the equipment," Likhachev told Anadolu Agency (AA).
"We are now closing the gap that our German suppliers have forced upon us," he noted.
"In such an alliance, by working with Turkish specialists and our Chinese partners, I believe we will shorten the installation time of our gas-insulated substation."
In July, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Germany was delaying some parts required for the Akkuyu plant at customs. "This has seriously bothered us. I reminded German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of that in our bilateral meeting," he said.
Siemens Energy gave no official reason for withholding the parts, but Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the company said Türkiye understands that it could be related to sanctions on Moscow.
Bayraktar called it a political decision "on an issue that is not subject to any international sanctions, financing or legal problems."
Maintaining close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, Türkiye opposes the European and U.S. sanctions on Russia, which were imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Officials have said Türkiye could consider fines against Siemens Energy over the cancellation, even though it has worked with the German company for years.
The $20 billion, 4,800 megawatts (MW) Akkuyu plant will bring Türkiye into the small club of nations with civil nuclear energy.
Once fully operational, the four-reactor plant will meet one-tenth of Türkiye's electricity needs and prevent the annual import of 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 35 million tons of carbon emissions, according to authorities.
Türkiye plans to launch trial production of the first reactor next year, Bayraktar said last week.
It had initially planned to start up the first unit in 2023. The remaining three reactors are expected to come online by the end of 2028.
The Akkuyu project employs approximately 35,000 people.
"Among them are numerous Russian, Belarusian, Kazakh and Turkmen experts. Specialists from Europe are also working here," said Likhachev.
"Meanwhile, the turbine was manufactured in Europe. It is of French origin but produced with many Russian-made components."
Türkiye has limited oil and natural gas resources and has been investing in explorations for hydrocarbon resources and renewable sources like wind and solar for over a decade to meet its increasing electricity demand.
It seeks to integrate cleaner resources, which also play an important role in reaching Türkiye's 2053 net zero emission target, into its energy mix and curb external dependency.
Türkiye plans to build at least three nuclear power plants for 15,000 MW of nuclear generation capacity. It plans a second one in the Black Sea province of Sinop and a third in the northwest region of Thrace.
It looks to complement these with up to 5,000 MW of small modular reactors (SMRs) to diversify its electricity production mix.
