Gavin Maguire of Reuters reports that Turkey, Europe’s top coal polluter, is developing a large nuclear power pipeline, with 4,800 MW of generation in progress. The Akkuyu nuclear plant, set to supply 10% of the country’s electricity, faces delays and challenges from sanctions on Russia. Meanwhile, Turkey remains heavily reliant on coal, which generated 35% of its electricity in 2024. Maguire writes:
Europe’s top polluter from coal-fired power production has one of the world’s largest nuclear power development pipelines that could help it boost power output and limit future emissions.
Turkey has 4,800 megawatts (MW) of nuclear generation capacity in development, according to Global Energy Monitor (GEM), which is the third largest nuclear pipeline globally. The country currently has no operating nuclear power plants.
The first unit of the new Akkuyu plant is due to start production this year, and once fully operational is expected to generate around 10% of Turkey’s electricity.
However, the Russia-built facility on the south coast, which commenced site construction in 2013, has been beset by numerous delays and cost overruns that raise questions about the likelihood of a timely start-up of its planned four stages. […]
However, due to the strict sanctions on several Russian entities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Rosatom has reported difficulties in acquiring certain parts from suppliers.
Further delays and sourcing difficulties could emerge going forward following the imposition of new sanctions targeting Russia by the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. […]
Judging by Turkey’s power capacity pipeline, the country’s firms have no ‘Plan B’ in place in case of major delays to the Akkuyu plant start-up. […]
That paucity of alternative capacity development speaks to the country’s confidence in getting the nuclear plants up and running quite soon.But the limited scope for boosting power production without the new nuclear fleet also means that Turkey’s power firms will remain beholden to the current swath of fossil fuel plants until the country finally does begin its nuclear age.
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