Japanese trading house Itochu is pulling out of Turkey’s second nuclear plant project in the face of increased safety-related costs, the Nikkei reported on 24 April. The project was agreed by the Japanese and Turkish governments in 2013.
A consortium including Itochu and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) had been conducting a feasibility study until March for the construction of a 4500MWe nuclear plant at Sinop on the Black Sea coast. However, costs related to safety measures rose sharply after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, and the estimated cost of the project increased to more than JPY5,000bn ($46.2bn) from JPY2,000bn in 2013. However, MHI and other investors in the consortium have already extended the feasibility study until mid-2018. Initially, 30% of the project’s cost was planned to be covered by the consortium and 70% by loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other lenders. The consortium was expected to be 51% owned by MHI, Itochu and French electric utility Engie, and 49% by others entities, including the Turkish Electricity Generation Corporation.
Turkey’s first nuclear plant is being built at Akkuyu by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom on a build-own-operate basis.
