Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi during the third World Future Energy Summit, Yıldız stated the last offer of 21.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the bid for building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant -- a tender that was later cancelled -- was too high and that his ministry was expecting a lower per-kWh price for electricity produced from the plant.
In addition, he informed the press that the electricity produced would also be sold to the private sector, recalling that the ministry would take the necessary steps toward achieving a nuclear power plant in Turkey, regardless of whether or not the tender was revived this year. He added that currently his ministry was taking legislative steps to realize the plant and would “present any international cooperative agreements regarding the plan to Parliament. These agreements must also be done according to the relevant laws.”
Answering a question on whether the government would inject capital into the project in exchange for payments from the winning party, Yıldız stated that “we are currently working on ironing out the details regarding this. Of course, it would be best for the government to be a partner in the project without injecting capital. This will be worked out after the technical analyses are done.” He added that the power plant would most likely be located in the district of Akkuyu in the province of Mersin.
Akenerji to bid in possible tender
Raif Dinçkök, a member of the board of Akenerji, announced that if a renewed tender for a nuclear power plant was in line with their conditions, then they would offer a bid as part of a larger consortium.
Speaking to reporters at an informational meeting on the Akbatı Shopping Center, Dinçkök noted that they have an “experienced Czech partner” with whom they would be making an offer if conditions were right.
He added that an investment of this nature was very long term and needed the involvement of the government and support in the form of purchasing guarantees. He also added that Akenerji aims to reach a total capacity of 3,000 megawatts by 2015, with 50 percent coming from natural gas and 30 percent from renewable sources.
