Turkish Minister of Electricity and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said on Tuesday that Turkey’s first nuclear reactor and newly found Black Sea gas deposits will begin producing energy next year.
Donmez made the statements while in Istanbul for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group conference.
Donmez was cited as speaking by the state-run TRT broadcaster, “Construction of the very first nuclear reactor of our nation continues in Akkuyu (in the southeastern province of Mersin.) We hope to turn it online next year. We are also working on technological and geographical aspects of second and third reactors.”
“We made the biggest off-shore natural gas discovery of the year 2020 in the Black Sea. Initial data suggest that it’s around 540 billion cubic meters, and we are working hard to connect it to our national distribution system next year,” he noted.
The minister also raised hopes that newly found Black Sea gas reserves, for which distribution line building began on Monday, will meet 25-30% of national energy demand by 2026.
“Since the last few years, topics such as uninterrupted energy supply, protection of the critical infrastructure, cyber security, and hybrid threats occupy top ranks in the agenda of the NATO alliance,” Donmez stated.
“We are experiencing a painful energy crisis that will echo for a long time and is more serious than the ones that came before,” the minister highlighted, highlighting that the soaring energy rates are the major reason of international inflation.
Source: MENAFN