Turkey's second nuke plant to cost $25 billion

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey is getting new offers for its second nuclear plant, says Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız.

Turkey’s second nuclear power plant, slated to be built in the northern province of Sinop, will cost around $25 billion, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız said at a press event Feb. 12.

“The second nuclear power plant will require an investment worth between $22 billion and $25 billion,” he said during the Turkish National Committee of World Energy Council conference.

Turkey needs to diversify its energy resources with sources such as nuclear power. Several countries have asked to build the nuclear power plant, which will possess four units, he said. Yıldız underlined that they had received new offers from countries and companies as the competition heats up.

The country generated 4,100 more megawatts of power last year, bringing the total to 58,000 megawatts, he said.
 
Search for domestic oil

Turkey’s energy demands are increasing because it is a growing country, said Yıldız, adding that they aimed to satisfy such needs through domestic renewable energy resources.

The minister also said crude oil and natural gas, which were imported, should be provided by domestic resources, adding that an oil exploration fund had risen 13 times in the last 10 years.

“We will find oil, if it exists [in Turkey],” he said. “While a barrel of oil cost $22 10 years ago, it has jumped to around $122 today.”

Yıldız also said six wells that had been capped with concrete in the 1980s because they had been deemed dry had now been reopened and were producing between 100 and 500 barrels of oil.

Exploration has begun in southeastern provinces like Diyarbakır, Adıyaman and Şanlıurfa and will soon begin once more in others, he said.