The Korean Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) is negotiating with the Turkish government on a possible contract for the construction of four nuclear reactors in Turkey worth KRW40,000 billion ($30.7bn), Korean media has reported, citing a representative of the South Korean company. A Kepco spokesperson said a feasibility study was expected to begin next year, paving the way for an agreement to build a NPP comprising four 1,400MWe units in the northern part of the country. The exact site was not identified.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) will be signed later if they agree on the environmental, technical and financing aspects of the project. Then, the governments of the two countries will sign an intergovernmental agreement in 2024. Kepco expects to secure the status of the preferred bidder. It is assumed that the reactors will be APR1400 units, similar to those Korea has constructed in the United Arab Emirates.
The Turkish government had negotiated with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the project in 2013, but negotiations broke down in 2020 when MHI quoted a price twice the initially estimated construction cost.
