Sabah - Two major investment projects worth tens of billions of dollars that have central roles to play in Türkiye’s 2023 goals are expected to be initiated today as the country’s second nuclear power plant to be built on the shores of the Black Sea and Istanbul’s third airport project will be officially handed out to their contractors.
The agreement awarding the exclusive negotiating rights to build a nuclear power plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop to a Japanese-French consortium will be signed by Türkiye’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his visiting Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe in Ankara while the tender process of Istanbul’s - and the world’s- largest airport according to passenger capacity is expected to be completed on the same day.
Worth USD 22 billion, Türkiye’s second nuclear power plant to be built by Mitsubishi-GDF Suez, will be a four-reactor unit with a 4,500 MW output. Türkiye held lengthy talks with Canada, South Korea and China to for the second nuclear project before deciding on the Japanese-French consortium. Türkiye reached a deal with Russia in 2010 to build the country’s first nuclear plant in Akkuyu, Mersin on the Mediterranean coast.
The energy-hungry country intends to build a third nuclear power plant, planning to meet 15 percent of its power needs from such plants by 2030.
Istanbul’s third airport is one of the largest infrastructure projects undertaken in Türkiye’s recent history. Four bids; TAV, IC-Fraport consortium, Cengiz-Kolin-Limak-Mapa-Kalyon consortium and Makyol İnsaat, are set to compete to build and operate the USD 10 billion airport for a period of 25 years. A certain amount of passenger traffic and tariff levels will be under state guarantee, according to tender specifications.
Requiring an investment of USD 10 billion, the giant air terminal will underscore Istanbul’s growing reputation as a global hub for air travel. The passenger handling capacity will initially be 90 million people by 2017, following the completion of the first phase. The airport will handle 150 million air travelers per year when fully complete.
Türkiye’s long term national targets, set to be reached by the centennial of the foundation of the Republic in 2023, require extensive investments in energy, finance, and physical infrastructure. The country aims to enter the top 10 economies of the world by reaching a GDP level of USD 2 trillion, up from its current USD 782 billion.