ANKARA, April 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate via a video linkup in the ceremony to deliver nuclear fuel to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Turkey on April 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the TRT television on Wednesday.

"The ceremony to deliver nuclear fuel to the Akkuyu NPP will take place on April 27. Once the fuel is delivered, the plant will acquire the status of a nuclear facility. Russian President Vladimir Putin will also participate in the ceremony via a video linkup," he said.

Erdogan went on to say that once all the four reactors go on stream, the NPP will meet one tenth of the country’s overall demand for electric power.

"To begin with, we will put the first reactor into operation. Then, other reactors will be activated one by one, over a certain period of time," he said.

The NPP will help Turkey reduce the amount of natural gas that it uses to generate electricity, and, therefore, will give it an opportunity to sell more gas from its Black Sea deposits. Therefore, the NPP will allow Turkey to earn additional $6.5 billion.

Commenting on the possibility of building another NPP in the country, Erdogan said that "talks were held with China and South Korea."

The Akkuyu NPP is the first nuclear power plant to be built in Turkey. The project is being implemented in accordance with the inter-governmental agreement signed by Russia and Turkey in 2010. The power plant will include four Russian-designed VVER generation 3+ reactors. Each reactor’s power output will be 1,200 MWt. Once commissioned and brought to full capacity, the NPP will produce about 35 billion kWh every year. The plant is designed to provide up to 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. The construction of the first nuclear power unit is planned to be completed this year.

The facility will be operated by a large number of local specialists, who were trained or continue to be trained in Russia.