Country profile: Turkey

Summary figures for 2017

The following information is from the NEA publication Nuclear Energy Data, the annual compilation of official statistics and country reports on nuclear energy in OECD member countries.

Country Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh) Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
Turkey00.00.0
OECD Europe127774.421.7
OECD Total3111 856.817.6
NEA Total 352 2 062.6 17.9

Country report

There are three ongoing NPP projects in Turkey. The first project is the Akkuyu Project. According to the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) signed with Russia on 12 May 2010, the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom will undertake to build, own and operate four units of VVER-1200-type rectors at the Akkuyu site in the city of Mersin. The total installed capacity of the plant is 4 800 MWe and the lifetime of each unit is 60 years. It is expected that the first unit of the plant will be in operation in 2023 and the remaining units will be in operation at one-year intervals thereafter.

A project company, Akkuyu Nuclear Joint-Stock Company (AJSC), was established in the context of the Akkuyu Project on 13 December 2010 in Ankara. The site of the plant was licensed in 1976 and the Akkuyu site with the existing site licence was allocated to the AJSC. The AJSC then started site investigations at the plant site to update site characteristics and parameters. The AJSC submitted the Site Parameters Report (SPR) on 9 February 2017 to the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK). On 3 March 2017, the AJSC applied to TAEK for a construction licence for the Akkuyu NPP unit 1. TAEK gave a Limited Work Permit (LWP) to AJSC on 20 October 2017. On 30 March 2018, the AJSC obtained a construction licence, and on 3 April 2018, it formally launched the construction of the first unit of Akkuyu NPP, with the first concrete pouring.

Furthermore, AJSC submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanism (MoEU) on 6 December 2013. An affirmative decision was given on 1 December 2014. The AJSC then obtained an Electricity Generation Licence (EGL) for 49 years from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) on 15 June 2017. On 30 December 2017, the AJSC and the state-owned Turkish Electricity Wholesale and Contracting Company (TETAS) signed a power purchase agreement (PPA).

The second NPP project (the Sinop Project) is being conducted by a Turkish-French-Japanese Consortium (TFJ-C), which consists of the French company ENGIE (known as GDF Suez prior to April 2015), the Japanese companies Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and ITOCHU, and the state-owned Turkish Electricity Generation Company (EUAS).

According to the IGA signed with Japan on 3 May 2013, a project company to be established by TFJ-C will construct and operate 4 units of the ATMEA-1-type reactor in the Sinop Province. The total capacity of the plant is to be 4 480 MWe and the total lifetime of each unit is to be 60 years.

Feasibility studies are ongoing for verification of site suitability and development of a financial scheme for the Sinop Project. It is expected that feasibility studies will be completed by the end of 2018. After this feasibility study, the Sinop Project Company (SPC) will be established. Moreover, the EUAS International Incorporated Cell Company (EUAS ICC) was established in 2016 as an international nuclear private company of the EUAS, and it will have up to a 49% share in the SPC on behalf of EUAS.

It is expected that the first two units of Sinop NPP will be in operation consecutively in 2025 and 2026 and the remaining units by 2030.
Site selection studies are ongoing for the third nuclear power plant project. The project will include four units and the EUAS will also have a share in the project company, similar to the Sinop Project. A site selection study will be followed by the initiation of a feasibility study for the project.

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2018

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