Turkey’s negotiations with China for a nuclear power plant in the Eastern Thrace region are coming to an end, reports the Turkish edition of Chinese network CGTN.
CGTN Türk cites statements by the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, who said in an interview during his visit to China: “We are working to finalize this government-to-government agreement within a few months.”
He highlighted that the two countries have ample opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector, stating that investments must increase to satisfy Turkey’s growing energy demand.
“We have to use our renewable resources. Secondly, we need to add nuclear energy to our energy mix. Third, we need to use natural gas as a transition fuel. We also need to invest in critical minerals and some new technologies such as storage and hydrogen,” said Alparslan Bayraktar.
“We have a more solid roadmap ahead of us”
Referring to his country’s cooperation with China in the field of nuclear energy, Bayraktar said: “Our cooperation with China in the nuclear sector dates back to 2016 and we signed a cooperation agreement with a Chinese company in the nuclear sector. Since then, we have been in negotiations for the construction of 4 nuclear reactors in (Eastern) Thrace, one of the important demand areas (for electricity). Now we have a more solid roadmap ahead of us and I hope we can conclude all these negotiations with this company.”
Asked whether the intergovernmental agreement on the nuclear power project would be signed, the Turkish Energy Minister said: “We are working to conclude this intergovernmental agreement within a few months”, noting: “China is the world leader in the field of nuclear power of renewable energy in many ways. The country has the largest suppliers of renewable energy equipment and the largest renewable energy production companies in the world. So I think we have common understanding and goals in those. areas.”
Source: AMPE