Sinop Nuclear Power Plant

The Sinop Nuclear Power Plant (Turkish: Sinop Nükleer Enerji Santrali) was a planned nuclear plant located at Sinop in northern Turkey. It would have been the country's second nuclear power plant after the projected Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

Sinop Nuclear Power Plant
Official nameSinop Nükleer Güç Santrali A.Ş.
CountryTurkey
LocationSinop
Coordinates42°00′N 35°00′E
StatusContracted
Commission date2023 (scheduled)
Construction costUS$22 billion
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Reactor supplierAtmea
Power generation
Make and modelATMEA1
Units planned4 × 1120 MW[1]
Nameplate capacity4480 MW planned

The deal for the project on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis was signed between Turkish Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on May 3, 2013. The project would have been carried out by Atmea, a joint venture consortium of Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and French Areva. Turkey, being geographically on a highly active earthquake-prone zone, relies on top-level safety know-how and experience of Japanese experts against earthquakes.[2]

MHI and Itochu planned to build the power plant, which would have a capacity of around 4,480 MWe.[1][3] Four generation III pressurized water reactors (PWR) of type ATMEA1 developed by Atmea would have been installed in the nuclear plant.[2] French electric utility company Engie would have been in charge of the operation of the nuclear plant. It was intended that Turkish Electricity Generation Corporation (EÜAŞ) would have 20-45% shares in the nuclear plant.[2]

As of June 2015, the total project cost was estimated at approx. $15.8 billion, of which 70% would be debt financed.[4] It was projected that the first unit of Sinop plant would be active by 2023, and the fourth unit would enter service by 2028.[2][5][6] As of April 2018, the estimated project cost grew to more than $46 billion.[7]

In 2018 an Environmental Impact Assessment application was submitted to the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry. Location and construction licenses are still to be obtained from the Turkey Atomic Energy Agency.[8]

In April 2018, Nikkei reported that Itochu would withdraw from the project, while MHI and other investors were continuing the feasibility study through the summer of 2018.[7] The remaining members of the Japanese consortium abandoned the project in December 2018 after a failure to reach agreement with the Turkish government on financing terms.[9] Construction costs had almost doubled to about $44 billion, because of post-Fukushima safety improvements and the fall in the value of the Turkish lira.[10] In 2020 Turkey stated it may hold discussions with other possible suppliers.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Nuclear Power Plant Planned Projects In Our Country". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources., enerji.gov.tr.
  2. "Turkey, Japan sign $22 bln deal for Sinop nuclear plant". Hurriyet Daily News. Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacılık A.Ş., hurriyetdailynews.com. May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  3. "MHI to Step Up Involvement in Sinop Nuclear Power Plant Project In Turkey". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., mhi.co.jp. May 8, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  4. "2 Japanese companies aim to fund 30% of Turkish nuclear project". Nikkei Asian Review. Nikkei. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  5. "Turkey, Japan agree on nuclear plant investment". Anadolu Ajansı T.A.Ş., aa.com.tr. Anatolian Agency. May 3, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  6. "Nuclear plants to help Turkey shave 7.2 bn $ off energy imports". Anadolu Ajansı T.A.Ş., aa.com.tr. Anatolian Agency. May 4, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  7. Hayashi, Eiki (2018-04-24). "Itochu pulls out of nuclear plant project in Turkey". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  8. "EIA application file for Sinop nuclear power plant submitted". Daily Sabah. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  9. Tsuji, Takashi (2018-12-04). "Japan to scrap Turkey nuclear project". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  10. "Japan looks to cancel Turkish project". Nuclear Engineering International. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  11. "Turkey looks to cancel Japan Sinop project". Nuclear Engineering International. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
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