Speaking on Channel 24 on Tuesday, Yıldız stated that Turkey and Russia were still working together to hammer out the technical details of the power plant. Even though the call for a tender was cancelled in 2008 and a bid from a consortium comprising Russian companies Atomstroyexport and Inter RAO UES and the Ciner Group’s Park Teknik was rejected, Yıldız said that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the two nations to cooperate on the technical research needed to accomplish the project.
“We will be meeting this month in İstanbul, and if a consensus with reasonable conditions is reached, then we hope to produce another intergovernmental agreement with Russia in line with Turkey’s laws. Before Parliament takes its winter recess we want to present a possible nuclear power plant project to them. It takes approximately seven years to build a nuclear power plant, so we hope to be close to consuming the electricity produced by the plant in 2017,” Yıldız said.
In addition, Yıldız revealed that a German firm had committed itself to 625 megawatts of energy investment in Turkey, adding that Germany is one of the most important investors in Turkey’s energy sector.
After a meeting with German Ambassador to Turkey Eckart Cuntz and German businessmen in Ankara on Tuesday, Yıldız told reporters that the discussions had been fruitful and that German firms were viewing Turkey as a new hotspot for energy investments.
Noting that Germany and Turkey’s energy resources were very similar, Yıldız underlined that the two nations both lack petroleum and natural gas resources but do possess coal, going on to say that through partnerships the two nations could find solutions to their energy needs. Cuntz, speaking to reporters after the meeting took place, stated that “there are many firms who want to invest in Turkey’s energy sector, because the sector has significant potential.”
A representative from the German energy giant RWE Energy thanked Yıldız during the meeting for his support of the Nabucco project, a planned natural gas pipeline between Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March in Austria, and added, “This project is of great importance for Turkey, and we hope to reach a final decision on financing the project by the end of this year.”
