Russia looks to sell stake in Turkish nuclear power plant

Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation, is currently negotiating the sale of a 49% stake in a $25 billion nuclear power plant (NPP) it is constructing in Turkey, as reported by Bloomberg.

Anton Dedusenko, chairman of the board of directors of Akkuyu Nuclear, a Rosatom subsidiary responsible for the project, told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Nuclear Power Plants Expo & Summit in Istanbul that dialogue with Turkish and international investors is in progress.

«The closer we are to the first unit generating electricity, the more investors start coming,» he said. 

A preceding attempt to sell the stake failed in 2018, when a consortium of Turkey’s Cengiz Holding AS, Kolin Insaat Turizm Sanayi ve Ticaret AS and Kalyon Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret AS turned down the deal, citing an inability to agree on commercial terms.

Dedusenko stated that the first power unit at the 4.8-gigawatt NPP is currently undergoing testing and is expected to start supplying power next year.

«I’m confident that by the end of the year we will have the systems which are necessary to inject electricity into the grid ready,» he added.

According to the media agency, the project has faced delays and financing difficulties, as foreign banks remain wary of potential U.S. sanctions. This has prompted the two countries to explore alternative financing methods, including a natural gas swap.

«There are many ways how to deliver money here,» Dedusenko said. «We can deliver the Russian rubles, the Turkish lira.»

Previously, Kursiv.media reported that Kazakhstan expected Rosatom to construct the country’s first NPP in seven years starting from the moment of entry to the construction site, while the indicative cost would be $14 billion at least.

Kazakhstan’s Agency for Atomic Energy announced the Russian corporation as a leader for the first NPP construction on June 14.