Turkey wants nuclear power station bids by Sept 24

The power station will be built at Akkuyu near Mersin on the country’s Mediterranean coast, the Official Gazette said. It said the plant will have a capacity of 4,000 megawatts, plus or minus 25%. On March 6, Turkey’s Constitutional Court rejected a request by opposition parties to cancel the tender. However the court vetoed an article in the law that would have allowed foreign staff to be employed by the Turkish Atomic Institution, a move that may irk foreign companies planning to bid. The tender was originally scheduled to be launched on Feb. 21. The project is one of several ways in which the government plans to boost energy production to keep pace with rapidly growing demand against a background of strong economic growth.

Turkey has conducted legal work on building three nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 MW. Among companies that have shown an interest in building a nuclear power plant in Turkey are local conglomerates Sabanci Holding and Koc Holding. Energy-to-construction company Enka Insaat said in January it had agreed with Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) to work together on nuclear energy in Turkey. Zorlu Enerji has said it was in talks with several large firms on building a nuclear power plant in Turkey. (Reuters)