Turkey's plans for the commissioning of the first power unit of the "Akkuyu" on October 29, 2024 may be delayed due to problems with the delivery of equipment from Germany, the head of the Turkish Ministry of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar announced.
The most likely possible date was October 29 this year, when it is the national holiday of our southern neighbor - the Turkish Republic Day.
In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara was concerned about the problem of supplying Siemens equipment for the nuclear power plant under construction, and he was talking about it with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
„Of course, it would be good NPP „Akkuyu" to start work on October 29 - Republic Day, but there are some problems and difficulties to be overcome. In "Akkuyu" they are waiting for equipment, especially the one in Germany”, the Turkish minister told the Milliyet newspaper.
In his words, the nuclear power plant will be put into operation without Siemens equipment, since this company is not the only one that produces it. “But switching providers will take some time, so we are going that route now. And this may slightly push back our goals regarding the time to launch the first power unit of the nuclear power plant”, noted Bayraktar.
NPP "Akkuyu" is the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, which is being built by the Russian state corporation "Rosatom". "Akkuyu" project includes four power units with Russian VVER generation III+ reactors. The capacity of each power unit will be 1200 MW. According to the terms of the intergovernmental agreement, the commissioning of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant must take place within seven years after receiving all permits. Taking into account the receipt of a license for the construction of the first power unit in 2018, this period falls to 2025.