Türkiye plans to add over 20 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear energy capacity to its portfolio by the end of 2050 as it strives to become a carbon-neutral economy, a senior official said Monday.
"Within the framework of the National Energy Plan, Türkiye plans to add 7.2 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity to its energy portfolio by 2035 and over 20 gigawatts by the end of 2050," said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Speaking during the 67th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) via a video message on Monday, Bayraktar affirmed that nuclear energy would play a vital role in reaching carbon neutrality by the year 2053 as a priority for the development of the nation’s sustainable energy.
Nuclear energy is considered the primary option as the nation seeks to reduce coal’s share in electricity generation.
He said that Türkiye aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources as well as continue its efforts to include nuclear power in its energy mix as a base load clean source of power. This will not only involve conventional large-scale nuclear power plants but also small modular reactors (SMRs).
"We've been following the developments of SMR, and we would like to include them in our energy mix," Bayraktar said.
Russia is currently constructing Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast, which could eventually reduce the country’s dependence on foreign gas imports.
Main construction work has finished on the first of the plant’s four reactors.
Türkiye’s ultimate goal to increase electricity production capacity from nuclear energy to 20 gigawatts corresponds nearly fourfold to the energy that the Akkuyu plant could generate when operating at full capacity within a few years.
Bayraktar earlier this month said Türkiye hopes to finalize discussions with China and strike a deal on constructing the country’s third nuclear power plant "within the next few months."
Türkiye has been engaged in talks about building a second power plant in the Black Sea city of Sinop.