(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s state-owned Rosatom Corp. has placed an alternative equipment order from China for Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, as shipping delays from Germany’s Siemens Energy AG threaten to derail the project, Turkish energy minister said.
Despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appeal to Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the hold-up remained unresolved, prompting the need to seek alternatives to keep construction of the Akkuyu power plant on schedule.
Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the hold-up of scheduled exports has caused a few months’ delay in the construction of the plant near the Mediterranean port city of Mersin. “Germany’s failure to provide a satisfactory explanation for the delay has impacted the project,” Bayraktar said. “However, Rosatom has already placed an alternative order with China.”
The equipment is needed for a gas-insulated substation to transmit power from the $24 billion plant to the electric grid, according to people familiar with the matter. China’s National Energy Administration and Rosatom declined to comment. A spokesman for Siemens Energy said the company was adhering to export control laws.
“It is a political decision on an issue that is not subject to any international sanctions, financing or legal problems, and there has been no progress even while it was expressed at the highest level,” Bayraktar told the state-run Anadolu Agency on Wednesday. Siemens, which has a sizable operation in Turkey, may have to “pay a price” for it, he said.
“If the purpose here is implementing sanctions against Russia, then it is Turkey which is suffering the damage.” Turkey hasn’t joined any sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine on grounds that it would complicate its self-declared mediation efforts between the warring parties.
Bayraktar dismissed allegations that Siemens’s equipment would be dispatched to Russia and that the profit that Russia will generate from the plant will be used to finance Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“All kind of guarantees have been given that the equipment will be used in Turkey and the project is unlikely to make profit before 15-20 years and the allegation of using profits” for the war in Ukraine is “inconsistent,” Bayraktar said.
The plant, with four Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors is expected to cut Turkey’s reliance on imported energy by meeting a 10th of domestic electricity demand.
Rosatom’s equipment order from China for the plant project in Turkey was the latest sign of growing cooperation between the three countries following Turkey’s bid to join the BRICS group of emerging-market nations to try and forge new ties beyond its traditional Western allies.
More: Turkey Turns to China for Next Step in Nuclear Construction
Ankara’s move to explore joining the BRICS group, which includes China and Russia, was largely driven by its frustration over a lack of progress in talks to join the European Union, according to the Turkish government.
Turkey has long bridled at the EU’s move in 2019 to impose punitive measures — including by suspending some membership talks and blocking defense deals — over Ankara’s energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey’s trade with Russia soared after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That drew criticism and later sanctions from the US and EU as they sought to stop flows of products such as industrial machinery and spare parts, which they said could help the Russian military.
--With assistance from Yuliya Fedorinova, Dan Murtaugh and William Wilkes.
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