Russian nuclear engineering company Rosatom has suspended the construction of the 4,800 MW Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey as a result of the degradation of relations between Russia and Turkey, after Turkey downed a Russian jet. Rosatom has not terminated the construction contract yet due to heavy compensation clauses but Turkey is already assessing other potential candidates for the project.
The Akkuyu project is developed by RosEnergoAtom (93%), Inter RAO UES (3.5%) and Atomstroyexport (3.5%). Total investment is estimated at US$22bn. Commissioning, initially expected in 2020, was delayed in March 2015 to 2022 at the earliest: the first two reactors are expected in 2022, the third in 2023 and the fourth in 2024. When commissioned, it will generate enough power to meet 28% of the current power demand in Turkey.
This announcement follows that of the suspension of negotiations on the TurkStream submarine gas pipeline project, delivering Russian gas to western Turkey bypassing Ukraine. The capacity of the project was halved from 63 bcm/year to 32 bcm/year in October 2015 as Gazprom started developing the expansion of its Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany in the Baltic Sea. Gazprom will let Turkey ask Russia to reopen talks on the project.
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