Turkey plans to introduce 2nd, 3rd nuclear power plants: Erdoğan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that preparations for the second and third nuclear power plants of Turkey would begin after the Akkuyu Power Plant in the country’s south is completed.

“It is not possible for anyone who is sensitive toward Turkey’s economic independence and the welfare of the Turkish nation to oppose nuclear energy,” Erdoğan said on Nov. 9, speaking at the opening ceremony of Energy Market Regulation Institute (EPDK) service building.

The government carries out its work by taking into account the increasing energy need, he said, adding that they plan to commission the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in 2023.

Turkey looks for ways to benefit more from its renewable energy resources, Erdoğan emphasized. “We are breaking records in electricity generation from wind. Opposing the cleanest energy sources has nothing to do with the environment,” he stated.

While 443 nuclear power plants are still in operation in 32 countries, saying, “Turkey should not have nuclear energy is not betrayal, but heedlessness,” Erdoğan said.

Turkey has drilled 14 deep-sea wells, and last year made the biggest natural gas discovery of its history in the Black Sea, he said.

“With this discovery, Turkey has now risen to a different league. We will find and extract whatever is in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The introduction of gas in the Black Sea will relieve Turkey, and the multiplier effect in our economy will increase.”

As soon as they drill natural gas, they will share it with the Turkish people, the president said. “Our country’s exploration, drilling and production capabilities in the deep seas will reach a high point,” he added.

Turkey works to make the first phase of the gas in the Black Sea available in 2023, he noted.

They will not leave the floor to those who try to dynamite the government’s energy move, Erdoğan said.

“Today, we are officially putting into service Turkey’s largest rooftop solar project, landfill gas power generation facility, and Europe’s largest combined renewable power generation power plant,” he stated.