Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated, “We want to enhance our cooperation with Rosatom in the Sinop project. There are other countries and companies like China and South Korea that are interested in investing in the Turkish nuclear market.”
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar began his speech at the International ATOMEXPO-2024 Forum held in the Russian city of Sochi by offering condolences for those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack in Moscow.
Bayraktar recalled the United Nations Climate Summit (COP28) held in Dubai last year, where it was emphasized that nuclear energy capacity worldwide needs to triple by 2050. He said, “This is a huge responsibility. It requires many things, which are quite compatible with our nuclear energy program.”
Stating that Turkey is a growing country and energy market, Bayraktar said, “Our economy is growing, and we need energy to meet our industrial growth and increasing demand. In the last 20 years, our energy demand has tripled in electricity and gas types. However, looking to the future, we expect an average annual energy demand increase of around 4% for the next 20 years. This requires many changes in the electricity market.”
Bayraktar expressed Turkey’s intention to meet its growing demand with green energy sources, saying, “We have a great potential in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, but we definitely need to add nuclear energy to our energy mix.”
“Our goal is to reach 7.2 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035” Bayraktar noted that work is continuing at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Mersin, continuing:
“At Akkuyu, four reactors are being constructed simultaneously, but our goal is to reach 7.2 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035 and to have 20 gigawatts of nuclear energy production by 2050. If you consider that Akkuyu is 4.8 gigawatts, this means we need to build four more reactors in Sinop and four more reactors in our Thrace region. In the next 20-30 years, we will focus on small modular reactors of around 5 gigawatts.”
Alparslan Bayraktar stated that Turkey will focus on small modular reactors in the coming years, saying, “We see great potential in this area. Small modular reactors are crucial for carbon-neutral transition.”
Bayraktar emphasized that nuclear energy is not just a trend but also important for Turkey’s energy security and to achieve the net zero target by 2053, saying, “That’s why we are building Akkuyu, but we also want to enhance our cooperation with Rosatom in the Sinop project. There are other countries and companies like China and South Korea that are interested in investing in the Turkish nuclear market.”
“Nuclear is the future” Bayraktar mentioned that Turkey can participate in such projects with its developing industry and human resources, saying, “Our cooperation with Rosatom and relevant private companies abroad enhances Turkey’s development in the industrial aspect. We have a very important localization program with Rosatom, and we are building an ecosystem for nuclear energy in Turkey.”
Bayraktar, in response to a question about the future of nuclear energy, said, “I believe that to have a better and brighter future, we need to collectively tackle global challenges, especially to combat global warming and achieve carbon neutrality. Nuclear is the future. To have a better future, we should avoid ideological debates and eliminate all artificial barriers such as trade restrictions and financial sanctions.”
source: aa.com.tr/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç