Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.14
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Akkuyu nuclear power plant will meet 28 percent of Turkey's demand for electricity, the country's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said.
The minister made the remarks during the groundbreaking ceremony for hydraulic structures for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
Yildiz said the construction of the nuclear power plant is important for Turkey, TRT Haber reported Apr.14.
Power plants in Turkey generate 47 percent of electricity by using the gas imported from other countries (mainly from Russia), while around 28 percent of electricity is generated by using local and imported coal. The hydro power plants account for only 18 percent of electricity generated in Turkey. The remaining seven percent of electricity is generated by the wind farms in the country.
Electricity consumption in Turkey increased by 63 percent and stood at 1.398 billion kilowatt hours in Jan.-Feb. 2015, according to the country's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Electricity import in these two months cost Turkey $110 million, which is quite high.
It was earlier reported that Turkish "Cengiz İnsaat" company became the winner of the tender for constructing hydraulic structures for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey.
The intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Turkey on cooperation in the fields of construction and operation of the country's first nuclear power plant Akkuyu near the city of Mersin in southern Turkey was signed in 2010.
The first Turkish nuclear power plant will be equipped with four VVER reactors. The installed capacity of each power unit at the nuclear plant will be equal to 1,200 megawatt. The project cost is about $20 billion.
The nuclear power plant will produce about 35 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
Turkey's Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning approved the report on the environmental impact assessment of the project for construction of the nuclear power plant in December 2014.
Edited by SI
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