Baku, December 28, AZERTAC

Türkiye aims to have three nuclear power plants by 2035, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said, adding that final decisions will be made regarding the planned two nuclear power plants next year, according to Hürriyet Daily News.

The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will commence power generation in 2025, the minister told a group of journalists.

“The electricity production from the first reactor with 1,200 megawatts will meet 2.5 percent of the country’s consumption,” he said.

When the Akkuyu plant, which will have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts, becomes fully operational, it will provide 10 percent of the country’s power consumption.

“The electricity generated from Akkuyu will prevent import of 7 to 7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This means $3 billion [in savings from gas imports],” the minister noted.

Türkiye needs to build two more large nuclear power plants in the Black Sea province of Sinop and the Thrace region, he said, adding that the country aims to have 7,200 megawatts of nuclear power by 2035.

“In 2025, we will have decided about with which country, with which technology we will proceed with the construction of those two nuclear power plants,” he furthered.

Russians, who are currently building the Akkuyu facility in the southern province of Mersin, are also interested in the construction of the planned Sinop nuclear power plant.

Türkiye is receiving cooperation offers from other countries on energy projects, Bayraktar also said.

Those offers are related to projects in Somalia, natural gas exploration in the Black Sea and offshore activities in Bulgaria, he said without providing other details.

Natural gas production capacity at the Sakarya field in the Black Sea has risen from 6.7 million cubic meters to 7 million cubic meters and the output will exceed 9 million cubic meters in the first quarter of next year, according to the minister.

As part of the activities in the Black Sea, 40 new wells will be drilled, Bayraktar said.

Türkiye has added more than 6,000 megawatts to its solar and wind power capacity in 2024, exceeding the initial target of 5,000 megawatts, he informed.

“If we build 1,000 megawatts of solar, we will prevent $350 million of natural gas imports. This year's 6,000 megawatts will save about 2.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which is around $800 million to $ 1 billion worth of imports,” Bayraktar said.