Russia and Turkey are assessing the impact of the non-delivery of Siemens equipment for the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Türkiye on the overall project implementation schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has said.
Akkuyu, Türkiye’s first NPP, will eventually host four Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors. The pouring of first concrete for unit 1 took place in April 2018, for unit 2 in June 2020, for unit 3 in March 2021, and for unit 4 in July 2022. Rosatom is constructing the reactors according to a build-own-operate model. Unit 1 is scheduled to begin operation in 2025. In July Akkuyu NPP reported that some 70% of the equipment and systems installed at unit 1 had already undergone commissioning.
“So, we were faced a situation where, despite the contract, a supplier from … Germany, Siemens, violated its contractual obligations to supply a certain range of equipment. Although it is not critical, it is significant for the project,” he said. “Despite all our efforts, as well as the involvement of the Turkish side, the negotiations did not produce constructive results: the equipment was never delivered to the site.”
As a result, Rosatom and its Turkish partners undertook the necessary corrective measures and found a solution – alternative equipment was purchased from “friendly countries” and the first batch of equipment has already been delivered to the NPP site.
“This demonstrates, on the one hand, that all the obstacles that arise are surmountable, but, on the other, that, unfortunately, they do not accelerate the pace of work. Now… we are assessing the impact of this situation on the overall project implementation schedule. Nevertheless, together with the Turkish side, we are making every effort to ensure that all four power units at the Akkuyu NPP will be operating by 2028,” Novak said.
He added that all the systems and elements at Akkuyu 1 are now in operational readiness, and their compliance with the criteria and characteristics established for the project has been checked. “We are now at the final stage of preparation for the start of the NPP,” he said.
