$3 bln spent on Akkuyu power plant so far: CEO

ANKARA - Reuters

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A total of $3 billion has been spent on the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and work will continue although the required licenses have not been issued yet, said the company chief, adding that some delays are normal in nuclear power plant projects. 

A total of $20 billion will be invested in the power plant, which will have 4,800 MW of installed power with four units, in line with an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Turkey. 

“We have invested $3 billion in the project so far. Our production license has not been issued yet, but we’ll continue to make our investments as we have confidence in Turkey and its economy,” said Akkuyu NGS CEO Fuat Akhundov to a group of journalists in Ankara on Sept. 29. 

On the project calendar, the construction license was supposed to be taken until the end of 2015 and the first unit construction would start by January 2016. Power generation by the first unit aims to start by 2019, but a recent Reuters report has claimed that the power plant will be online by 2022. 

Akhundov said the company has expected the passing of two law changes through the parliament to take the project online, adding that their financing is ready until 2017 with the most recent $700 million of funds released by Russia in January. 

He noted that it is not easy to predict when the project will be completed, as no nuclear power plant project in the world was not subject to procedural delays. 

“Such things happen in nuclear projects. We do not blame anyone. After we receive all the required permissions, we’ll complete the construction in seven years but I cannot name any exact date…Our strategy is to meet Turkey’s energy demands, which are defined in the country’s 2023 targets,” he said. 

The company had earlier planned to receive the required environmental assessment report for the power plant until the end of 2013, but instead obtained the reports at the end of 2014.