Minister: Türkiye to substantially boost nuclear power capacity by 2050

Nuclear energy sources will play a decisive role in Türkiye's energy transformation, with the government planning to substantially increase output levels in the upcoming years.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, announced that the country aims to achieve 20 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2050, Caliber.Az reports citing Turkish media.

He was speaking at the 18th Verona Eurasian Economic Forum in Istanbul, where he revealed that Türkiye plans to reach this level through the construction of large nuclear power units and modular reactors.

Bayraktar confirmed that electricity generation at the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently being built in cooperation with Russia, is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Recalling that the Akkuyu plant is Türkiye's largest energy project, the minister pointed out that the two countries' cooperation in the field of nuclear energy extends beyond this project.

“We have a strategic, multi-faceted, and long-term partnership that includes technological transformation, training of specialists, and industrial development,” Bayraktar listed.

Besides being Türkiye's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu is currently the largest nuclear construction project in the world. Four power units with the most advanced Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors are being constructed simultaneously near the southern border close to the city of Mersin.

By Nazrin Sadigova