Erdogan announces new nuclear power plants with Russia on the sidelines of SCO summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced plans to pursue new nuclear power plant projects jointly with Russia.

The statement was made at a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

“Together with Russia, we will take steps to launch a number of new plants after the opening of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant,” Reuters and Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu quoted Erdogan as saying.

Putin, for his part, called Turkey “one of our privileged partners” in foreign policy and economics, and expressed confidence that Rosatom would launch the first power unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant this year.

Akkuyu NPP: construction status

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant, located on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, has been the centerpiece of Russian-Turkish energy cooperation since an intergovernmental agreement was signed in 2010. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors at the site under a build-own-operate model; the combined capacity of the units will be 4,800 megawatts, which is estimated to cover around 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs.

Construction of the first power unit began in 2018, and nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in April 2023. Erdogan said the first unit had reached its “final stage.” Rosatom has completed welding of the main circulation pipeline of the primary circuit of the second power unit — the work took 73 days and involved completing 32 pipeline joints, which underwent ultrasonic and radiographic inspection.

Turkey, as a NATO member, faces constant criticism from its Western allies over its relations with Moscow. The country is heavily dependent on energy imports, with around 70% of its energy needs covered by foreign supplies. According to UN trade statistics cited by the Associated Press, the volume of Russian imports into Turkey last year amounted to approximately €36.5 billion, of which approximately €25.7 billion was accounted for by energy resources.

Beyond Akkuyu, Turkey has broader nuclear ambitions. Ankara is discussing the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Sinop and is in talks with China about a third site in the Thrace region. The country is also developing plans to build small modular reactors with the aim of adding 5 gigawatts of capacity by 2050.