Turkey may build the third nuclear power plant - in Thrace

Alexey Belogoryev, Deputy Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Vestnik Kavkaza on the possibility of Rosatom's participation in constructing new nuclear power plants in Turkey.

As Alexey Belogoryev noted, Rosatom is now more than ever interested in long-term cooperation with Turkey. 

“Given the long-term loss of potential markets in developed countries, any new projects in developing countries, especially in countries where it is already present, are attractive for Rosatom. As far as I understand, both the second and third nuclear power plants in Turkey will be built according to the same scheme as Akkuyu: Rosatom will not only build, but also manage this station, receiving a return on investment through a fixed tariff," he said.

“This is quite interesting for Rosatom both economically and in terms of obtaining long-term guarantees for its services of a very different nature, including construction and management. Of course, the nuclear power plant in Sinop and the nuclear power plant in Thrace are attractive projects. The only question is how much Turkey is ready for such an intensive development of the nuclear industry. So far, this is an open question. The country is still not in the most prosperous financial and economic situation, and here guarantees are required at the state level that Russian investments will be provided. Therefore, it is interesting for Rosatom to participate in this, however the coordination of such projects will definitely not be completed in the coming months and not even in the coming years," Alexey Belogoryev noted.

At the same time, Turkey is very interested in the construction of new nuclear power plants under the Rosatom scheme.