Japanese Mitsubishi to scrap Turkey nuclear project: Report

TOKYO

A Japan-led public-private consortium is set to abandon a Turkish nuclear power project due to soaring costs, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported on Dec. 4.

The delayed project’s construction costs have ballooned to around 5 trillion yen ($44 billion), nearly double the original estimate, making it difficult for lead builder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its partners to continue with the plans, it said.

The increase was due to heightened safety requirements in the wake of the 2011 meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the recent fall in the Turkish Lira has also contributed to the cost increases, it added.

The project was agreed on by the Japanese and Turkish governments in 2013. A consortium led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had been conducting a feasibility study until March for the construction of a 4,500-megawatt plant in the province of Sinop in Turkey’s Black Sea region.

Initially, 30 percent of the project’s cost was planned to be covered by the consortium and 70 percent by loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other lenders.

The consortium was expected to be 51 percent owned by Mitsubishi Heavy, Itochu and French electric utility Engie, and 49 percent by others entities, including the Turkish Electricity Generation Corporation.