ISTANBUL (Turkey), December 12 (SeeNews) – Turkey's first planned nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, can help the country reduce its balance of payment deficit by 10%, according to the project's CEO, quoted in Turkish media on Friday.
"Only one Akkuyu project can basically reduce the balance of payment deficit by 10%," Fuad Akhundov, the chief executive officer of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, was quoted as having told news agency Anadolu Ajansi. "The biggest problem for Turkey is the balance of payment deficit, which is over $40 billion, and this comes from energy," he added.
Under an agreement, signed between Turkey and Russia in 2010, Akkuyu Nukleer will build and operate a plant with four nuclear units of 1,200 megawatts (MW) each with expected total annual power output of 35 billion kWh and a life cycle of 60 years, according to Akkuyu Nukleer.
Construction on the plant is estimated to begin in 2016; it is expected to start operating by 2020 and become fully operational by 2023.