ANKARA, May 2. /TASS/. Turkey plans to finish the construction of the first reactor of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant soon and begin test power generation by the end of this year, President Recep Payyip Erdogan said.

"The construction of the first reactor of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant will soon be over. We have finished the assembly of the first reactor’s turbine. A major step has been taken, with the turbine shaft being turned successfully. We will begin test production and will supply first electricity from Akkuyu at the end of this year," he told a summit on natural resources in Istanbul.

According to the Turkish leader, the facility is expected to reach its designed capacity in 2028, when the construction of the rest of reactors is over. "After the power plant and all of its components are commissioned, our import of natural gas will be reduced by seven billion cubic meters a year. It stands for $2.5 billion," Erdogan said.

Akkuyu NPP is the first nuclear power plant being built in Turkey. The Akkuyu NPP project includes four power units equipped with Generation 3+ VVER reactors of the Russian design. The capacity of each power unit will be 1,200 MW. Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.