ANKARA, November 25. /TASS/. The date of commissioning of all power units of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) needs to be clarified due to the blockade of equipment deliveries by Siemens, Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Erkhov said in an interview with Ekonomim.

According to him, the construction of complex engineering and construction projects, such as nuclear power plants, requires scrupulous compliance with a large number of high-tech operations, the sequence of which is determined by IAEA requirements, numerous standards, instructions and regulations. At the same time, special attention is paid to adherence to work schedules and their sequence.

"Due to anti-Russian sanctions, the delivery of equipment ordered from German company Siemens, which is extremely important for the implementation of the project, was effectively blocked. We had to order the equipment elsewhere. Naturally, this will affect the pace of construction. That is why it is necessary to clarify the date of commissioning of all four power units - experts from both sides are working on it now," the ambassador said.

He also recalled Russia's interest in participating in the implementation of the second NPP in Turkey. "We do not hide the fact that we are ready to participate in the implementation of the Sinop NPP project. Our clear advantages in this regard are the possession of reliable and well-established technologies, as well as the experience of cooperation with Turkish construction companies, which we have already gained during the implementation of the Akkuyu project. The choice of the partner country in this matter is, of course, up to the Turkish side," Yerkhov noted.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier after a government meeting broadcast by TRT Haber TV channel that Turkey is moving towards the goal of complete energy independence and one of the steps in this direction will be the commissioning of the Akkuyu NPP, which will cover 10% of the country’s electricity needs.

"We are taking reliable steps to achieve the goal of making Turkey completely energy independent <...>. With the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, we are implementing our 70-year-old dream of switching to nuclear energy. Once it is fully operational, we hope it will provide 10% of Turkey's electricity needs," Erdogan said.

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said earlier that the first unit of the Akkuyu NPP would be commissioned in 2025. According to him, the plant's operation will offset Turkey's import of 7 bln cubic meters of natural gas per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 35 mln tons.

Akkuyu is the first nuclear power plant in Turkey to be built by the Russian state corporation Rosatom. The project consists of four units with Russian-designed VVER III+ generation reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 MW. According to the terms of the intergovernmental agreement, the first unit of the NPP must be commissioned within 7 years after obtaining all permits. All four units of the station are planned to be commissioned in 2028.