Türkiye hopes to finalize discussions with China and strike a deal on the construction of the country’s third nuclear power plant "within the next few months," a top energy official said on Thursday.
The move is part of Türkiye's ambitious plan to triple its renewable energy capacity by 2053 as it strives to become a carbon-neutral economy.
The discussions, aimed at boosting the nation's energy production, are now reaching their conclusive stages, with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar emphasizing the importance of sealing the deal amid interest from other parties.
Bayraktar said negotiations with China to build the plant in Kırklareli province in the Thrace region had been ongoing for an extended period.
"We have now reached the stage where we should finalize this agreement within the next few months, as other interested parties are also involved," the minister told a press briefing held by the ministry.
"We have been in talks with a Chinese company for a very long time. We are quite close."
Bayraktar assured that there were no major points of contention between the parties and believed they could soon reach a deal. "I think that we can fill the remaining gaps and that we will soon reach an agreement with China on our nuclear energy program," he noted.
He highlighted the importance of reducing coal's share in electricity generation to achieve a carbon-neutral economy.
Bayraktar stressed they want to reduce the share of up to 25% that coal power plants currently have in electricity generation, but said replacing this with gas power plants can only be done if imported gas is at a "cost-competitive" level.
To achieve this and balance renewable energy, nuclear energy is considered the primary option.
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.
Bayraktar said the "main construction work" had finished on the first of the Russian plant's four reactors.
"It is moving well," he said.
Bayraktar said Türkiye's ultimate goal is to increase electricity production capacity from nuclear energy to 20 gigawatts, nearly four times what the Akkuyu plant could generate when operating at full capacity within a few years.
To achieve this, the minister said Türkiye may need an additional 5 gigawatts of capacity from small nuclear reactors, known as SMRs.
"We would like to create a broader nuclear ecosystem in Türkiye, Bayraktar said. "We need nuclear energy for a successful clean energy transition by 2050."
Türkiye has been talking to Russia's Rosatom state nuclear energy company about building a second power plant in the Black Sea city of Sinop.
But Bayraktar stressed that Türkiye was also open to offers from South Korean firms as well as those in China looking to build "small modular reactors."
"We are discussing (Sinop) with all the interested countries," Bayraktar said.
Expanding infrastructure for regional gas hub
Bayraktar also underscored that Türkiye plans to expand its gas infrastructure as it lays the groundwork to establish a gas exchange from which countries in southeast Europe will be able to source gas.
Russia proposed setting up a gas hub in Türkiye last year, to replace lost sales to Europe. Ankara has long sought to function as an exchange for energy-starved countries.
The idea came shortly after explosions damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. It remains unclear who was responsible for the blasts.
Türkiye plans to expand its gas infrastructure in the northwest Thrace region, connecting liquefied natural gas (LNG) gasification terminals and an upgraded storage facility in Silivri.
Gas coming from Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia through pipelines could also feed into this hub and be priced in a local gas exchange, Bayraktar said.
Moscow currently supplies gas to Türkiye via the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines across the Black Sea. Gas via TurkStream also goes for further exports to southern and eastern Europe, including Hungary, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania and Serbia.
Türkiye currently imports nearly all its gas and has extensive LNG import infrastructure. Ankara believes it can leverage its existing and new trade relations to become a gas hub.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in July that the gas hub was still on the agenda, and Russia wanted to set up an electronic platform for gas sales in Türkiye.
At a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sept. 4, Putin said Gazprom had submitted a road map for the hub to Turkish energy company Botaş.
He said issues included creating a joint working group, drawing up a legal framework, and "schemes for the trading and transfer of purchased gas."
The Kremlin has said that the hub is a complex project requiring time to come to fruition. Its spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had first said in February that there could be delays with the plan because of devastating earthquakes that struck southeast Türkiye and Syria.
Türkiye is pushing its own gas exporting agenda: Botaş in August struck an agreement with Hungary's MVM to sell about 300 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas. That marks the first time Türkiye has agreed to gas exports with a non-neighboring country, and indicates its willingness to boost the security of European energy supply.
Türkiye has said it would also be possible to include the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which carries Azeri natural gas to the Turkish border, into the proposed hub.
Russia supplies pipeline gas to Europe mainly via Ukraine at a rate of over 40 million cubic meters per day, less than half the amount it used to sell to the European Union before the Ukraine conflict via that route.
The Kremlin has said that the TurkStream gas pipeline cannot replace the capacity of the damaged Nord Stream.
In August, Gazprom supplied the European Union via Ukraine and TurkStream some 2.84 bcm of gas, of which 1.54 bcm was shipped through Türkiye and 1.3 bcm via Ukraine.
In 2022, Russia's total pipeline gas exports almost halved to 100.9 bcm, a post-Soviet low.
Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline almost ready
Bayraktar further said Iraq's northern oil export route through Türkiye would soon be ready to resume operation after checks on pipeline maintenance and repairs to flood damage.
A survey of the oil pipeline is complete, and it will soon be "technically" ready for operation, Bayraktar said.
Türkiye suspended Iraq’s 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion over what it said were unauthorized exports by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) between 2014 and 2018.
Türkiye, on the other hand, said the ICC had recognized most of Ankara’s demands. The Energy Ministry said the chamber ordered Iraq to compensate Türkiye for several violations concerning the case.
Meanwhile, the sides agreed to start maintenance work on the pipeline, which goes through a seismically active zone and Ankara says has been damaged by floods.
"As of today, the independent surveyor completed their survey and now they're preparing their report," Bayraktar said without mentioning a date for resumption of oil flows.
Iraq and Türkiye previously agreed to wait until maintenance works were complete before resuming the pipeline that contributes about 0.5% of the global oil supply.
Sources said oil flows are not expected to start before October, with KRG losing roughly $4 billion in lost exports.
Ankara will file in the Paris court for a "set-aside case," Bayraktar said. In April, Iraq opened an enforcement case against Türkiye in a U.S. federal court to enforce the $1.5 billion arbitration award.
"As two neighboring countries, we need to find an amicable solution. But from the legal perspective, we need to take care of our interests. Most likely in the future, we might face another court challenge," Bayraktar said.
"But the pipeline will be operational technically. It is more or less ready and we will start the operation soon."
Ankara reportedly wants Baghdad to withdraw a second arbitration case covering the period from 2018 onward and negotiate a reduced payment. Türkiye also wants Irbil and Baghdad to agree on a common position and negotiate the continuance of the pipeline agreement, which is set to expire in 2026.
Talks with Israel on gas
Bayraktar also mentioned that President Erdoğan would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly.
Energy discussions are expected to be on the agenda, the minister said.
Türkiye, the fourth-largest natural gas consumer in Europe, sees Israel as a potential supplier of natural gas.
"We are in talks with Israeli companies again. Türkiye needs this gas, and I believe Europe, especially the southeast, needs it too," Bayraktar said.
He added that discussions about constructing a natural gas pipeline between the two countries are also underway.