CGN sounds confident note on Turkish plant

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co issued a statement on Thursday, saying it is working with the Turkish energy ministry to continue negotiations on the building of the Sinop nuclear plant in Turkey, as competition for the project enters the final stage.

The two countries signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement during a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to China in April 2012.

The two sides officially launched negotiations on the construction of the Sinop project — Turkey's second nuclear power station to be built on the Black Sea — in November, which CGN said on Thursday had achieved consensus on multiple issues.

Ankara will announce which country will build the $22 billion project by this weekend, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz was quoted by Reuters as saying on Monday.

The announcement will coincide with the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Turkish capital.

Yildiz had dismissed earlier reports as "premature", that a bid headed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and France's Areva, had been chosen to build the plant.

In its statement, CGN said it will hold the majority of the investment in the plant if successful, and be responsible for project financing "without sovereign guarantees for financing as a prerequisite from Turkey".

CGN submitted its proposal for the Sinop project in November to the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

It proposes the building of up to eight nuclear power units, with a total annual generating capacity of up to 65 billion kWh.

The company also expects to transfer the entire ACPR1000+ nuclear power technology package — a self-developed third-generation nuclear power technology — by forming Sino-Turkish consortiums to promote localization of equipment manufacturing, construction and operations management.

"The equipment localization program can significantly enhance the Turkish nuclear power technology and equipment industry, and may create about 50,000 jobs," the CGN statement added.

Lin Boqiang, director of the Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said he was very optimistic of China winning the bid.

He said in addition to its cost advantages, CGN has richer experience of building reactors in recent years than its Japanese competitor.

However, Lin pointed out that CGN's experience was mainly in building second-generation reactors, whereas construction of a third-generation reactor, such as ACPR1000+, was still at an early stage.

According to CGN, the first ACPR1000+ unit will be licensed for construction by 2014 in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region as a reference plant for the Sinop project.

Although China lacks experience in nuclear reactor exports, it is considered the world's fastest-growing nuclear power nation.

The country has 16 nuclear power units in operation, and 29 under construction, accounting for 43 percent of the world's total. CGN has 7 units in operation and 15 under construction.

According to China's nuclear power development plan, the country will have more than 80 nuclear power units in operation and under construction by 2020, ranking it second in the world.