Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin may visit Türkiye on April 27 for the inauguration of the country’s first nuclear power plant jointly built with Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom.
“Mr. Putin may come to Türkiye on April 27 for the inauguration ceremony. Or we may attend the ceremony online,” Erdogan said on Wednesday in televised comments on Turkish broadcasters A Haber and ATV. “Hopefully, we will take the first step.”
Erdogan said the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was one of Türkiye’s “indispensable investments,” adding that the facility would help the country “seriously store energy.”
Akkuyu, currently under construction in Türkiye’s southern Mersin province, will be the country’s first nuclear power plant.
Akkuyu’s first reactor is set to be operational in 2023, with the entire plant to be up and running by 2025. The project began with a 2010 intergovernmental agreement between Türkiye and Russia.
The plant, expected to have an installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts and four reactors, is set to begin producing power later this year.