Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and South Korea’s Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, Kim Sung-whan, signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation in the field of energy.
This will see the two countries agreeing to “cooperate on clean energy policies and carbon emissions reduction; nuclear energy and nuclear power plant construction projects; renewable energy; hydrogen and energy efficiency practices; smart grids; and new energy technologies”.
There will also be the creation of a bilateral energy transition forum which will meet annually and “serve as the highest-level implementation mechanism for discussions on nuclear power plant investments, technology integration, financing models and joint venture opportunities”.
A second memorandum of understanding signed during the visit by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to South Korea was on cooperation in nuclear power project financing, signed by Türkiye Nuclear Energy Company (TÜNAŞ) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM).
According to Turkey’s Energy Ministry, it will “establish a framework for cooperation on potential financing solutions for all nuclear power plant projects to be undertaken through TÜNAŞ. KEXIM and TÜNAŞ will develop cooperation on financial modelling and analysis, as well as financing structures. A working group will be established to exchange information regularly and explore potential opportunities for future cooperation”.
South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung’s office’s report on the talks said “the two leaders confirmed that cooperation for the construction of the Sinop nuclear power plant in Turkey, including site evaluation and the operation of a joint working group, is progressing smoothly based on the MOU on Nuclear Cooperation signed last year”.
It added that the nuclear financing MOU laid the foundation “to proactively support our companies’ participation in new nuclear power projects in Turkey”.
Background
The 4,800 MWe Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Russia’s Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. Construction of the units began between 2018 and 2023. When the plant is completed, it is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs, with the aim that all four units will be operational by the end of 2028.
In March 2024 Bayraktar was reported to have said that Turkey was talking to Russia and South Korea about Turkey’s planned second nuclear power plant, at Sinop, and was also in talks with China about plans for a third plant, in the Thrace region in the country’s northwest. In January 2023, South Korea’s KEPCO submitted a preliminary proposal to Turkey for the construction of four APR-1400 reactors at an undisclosed site in the northern part of the country.
Turkey is also developing plans for small modular reactors, with the aim of adding 5 GWe of capacity by 2050 – which would mean a total of at least 16 individual SMRs.
