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ISTANBUL: Turkey’s energy minister said Russia had provided new financing worth $9 billion for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant being built by Moscow’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom, adding Ankara expected the power plant to be operational in 2026.

Rosatom is building Turkey’s first nuclear power station at Akkuyu in the Mediterranean province of Mersin per a 2010 accord worth $20 billion. The plant was expected to be operational this year, but has been delayed.

“This (financing) will most likely be used in 2026-2027. There will be at least $4-5 billion from there for 2026 in terms of foreign financing,” Bayraktar told some local reporters at a briefing in Istanbul, according to a readout from his ministry.

He said Turkey was in talks with South Korea, China, Russia, and the United States on nuclear projects in the Sinop province and Thrace region, and added Ankara wanted to receive “the most competitive offer”.

Bayraktar said Turkey wanted to generate nuclear power at home and aimed to provide clear figures on targets.

He added that Turkey was in talks with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power company on a 5,000-megawatt solar package.

“We will have completed the agreement for this in the first quarter of 2026, for 2,000 megawatts in the first phase. We are talking about a 2,000-megawatt solar energy project; 1,000 megawatts in Sivas, a thousand in Taseli,” he said.

“We are discussing a project on solar and storage with yet another firm from the Gulf again. The approximate investment cost of that is between $1.5-2 billion,” Bayraktar added, without giving details.