June 29 (SeeNews) - Turkey's energy minister Fatih Donmez said that the construction of a second unit at Akkuyu, the first nuclear power plant (NPP) in the country, has begun, local media reported.
Turkey plans to commission the second unit in 2021, while the first unit is expected to start to operate in 2023, Daily Sabah quoted Donmez as saying on Friday.
The power plant will have four units with a total capacity of 4,800 MW and will employ around 3,000 people. It will meet approximately 8%-10% of Turkey's current electricity consumption when operating at full capacity.
In 2010, Turkey and Russia signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of the nuclear power plant worth an estimated $20 billion (17.8 billion euro).
Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom owns 99.2% of project company Akkuyu Nuclear which implements the project for construction and operation of the power plant.
($ = 0.8886 euro)