Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 4 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
Russian company Rosatom has started investing in the Turkish Akkuyu nuclear power plant project, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying today by the newspaper Sabah.
The total investment volume in the project will amount to $20 billion. At the initial stage, $2.5 billion will be invested in the project, Erdogan said.
Around $700 million has already been invested in the project. It is expected to receive investment of $800 million more in the near future.
He added that the investment in the Akkuyu project is the largest direct investment made in the project implementation in Turkey.
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant will be built on the Russian project which includes the construction of four power units with VVER-1200 reactors. The agreement on the construction of the station was signed in May 2010.
The capacity of each unit will reach 1200 MW, while the total capacity is 4800 MW. It is assumed that the units will be commissioned in sequence at intervals of one year.
Earlier, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said that the Turkish nuclear power plants will generate electricity by 2019 and that Turkey plans to build another nuclear power plant by 2023.