TEHRAN, YJC. -- The deal for Turkey’s second nuclear plant will become clearer by the end of this month if the competition does not heat up, Energy Minister Yıldız says.
Turkey’s energy minister has set a deadline for an agreement on a second nuclear plant to be built in Sinop for the end of the month.
"We think we will shape the international [nuclear] deal that will contribute to Turkey’s development, growth and progress by the end of this month. Of course, if the competition won’t heat up,” Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said while receiving board members of the Energy Efficiency Association at a ministry building in Ankara.
In his remarks, the minister also hinted that one of three final contenders also may be eliminated from the race.
Japan, South Korea and China are the short-listed contenders for the 5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant, which is slated to be built in the Black Sea province of Sinop, while Canada lags behind, Yıldız announced last week.
France also emerged as another bidder, with French company GDF Suez officially placing a joint bid with Japanese companies Itochu and Mitsubishi.
The second nuclear power plant is expected to require an investment worth between $22 billion and $25 billion.
Russia’s Rosatom, which will build Turkey’s first nuclear power station, will start its construction in mid-2015 and expects the facility to start producing electricity in 2019, its deputy general manager told Reuters last month.
Hurriyet Daily News