November 17 (SeeNews) - Turkey's energy and natural resources ministry said on Tuesday it granted a construction licence for a third unit at Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) to construction company Akkuyu Nuclear, local media reported.
The first reactor of Akkuyu, Turkey's first NPP, is planned to be put into operation by 2023, Daily Sabah quoted the energy ministry as saying in a Twitter post.
The power plant will have four units with a total installed 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 $20 billion (16.9 billion euro).
Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom owns 99.2% of project company Akkuyu Nuclear which implements the project for construction and operation of the power plant.
($ = 0.8425 euro)