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Türkiye may work with the United States and South Korea for its second planned nuclear power plant, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday, adding this may be in the form of a trilateral model.
Türkiye plans to build three conventional nuclear power plants. The first one, Akkuyu, is being built by the Russian conglomerate Rosatom in the southern province of Mersin. Ankara has said it was in talks with Russia, China, Canada and South Korea on the second and third plants it plans to build in the northern Sinop and Thrace, which is in the country’s western region.
In addition, Canada’s Candu Energy is also in talks with Türkiye over involvement in the planned facilities.
Türkiye last month signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. on civilian nuclear cooperation as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
Erdoğan had also discussed cooperation on both small and big reactors with the leaders of Canada and France, Bayraktar told broadcaster CNN Türk.
He added that the country would cooperate with the United States for both small modular and conventional plant development.
“We can say the United States and (South) Korea got added together. Therefore, there may be a trilateral model with Korea-America-Türkiye,” he said, while repeating that the first reactor of Akkuyu would be operational in 2026.
Bayraktar also said Türkiye wanted access to cheap energy and technology transfer, know-how with such investments, and that an accord providing these was reached with Russia on Akkuyu, so it would also seek the same for its second nuclear power plant.
The $20 billion, 4.8 gigawatt (GW) four-reactor Akkuyu will bring Türkiye into the small club of nations with civil nuclear energy.
The plant is the third largest nuclear pipeline globally, according to Global Energy Monitor (GEM). Once fully operational, it is expected to generate around 10% of Türkiye’s electricity. The three remaining 1,200 MW VVER-1200 units are due to be added one per year in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Officials say Türkiye still needs at least eight additional reactors, as well as 5 GW of small modular reactors to enhance energy security and ensure an affordable electricity supply. The country aims to reach 7.2 GW of nuclear capacity by 2035 and 20 GW by 2050.
Bayraktar also referred to Türkiye’s efforts to leverage its liquified natural gas (LNG) infrastructure for regional energy cooperation.
He said Türkiye had recently started using its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) ships for export purposes, referring to a May accord with Egypt to time charter its FSRU ships.
Bayraktar said Türkiye is discussing a similar arrangement with Morocco.
“There is something especially with Egypt now. We are also discussing such a project with Morocco because the summer months are also a period when their gas needs increase, and for us, the summertime is when we consume 30% of our gas,” he said.
Bayraktar did not provide further details on the discussions or the existing time charter with Egypt.
