Akkuyu is the first nuclear power plant under construction in Turkey and will eventually host four units of Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors.

The bank opened two credit lines (in the amount of $500 million and $300 million) for a period of seven years, Sberbank said on 17 November. The funds will be used for the construction of the plant’s four VVER-1200 reactors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the ceremony via videoconference. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez, ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev and Akkuyu Nuclear JSC CEO Anastasia Zoteeva were present at the Akkuyu NPP site.

Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement in May 2010 for the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant on the southern coast of Turkey in Mersin province,

The $20bn Akkuyu nuclear plant will comprise four 1200MWe VVER-1200 reactors

The natural gas pipeline project TurkStream, which will carry Russian gas to Turkey and Europe, as well as Turkey's first nuclear power Akkuyu, currently under construction by the Russian firm Rosatom, are two prominent strategic projects.

WNN - The $20 billion project to build the four-unit, 4800 MWe plant is part of Erdogan's '2023 Vision' marking 100 years since the founding of modern Turkey and is intended to reduce the country's dependence on energy imports. The first unit is scheduled to start operations that year, with the other three units following by 2025. The plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

ROSATOM - On December 10, 2017, the construction start ceremony took place at the Akkuyu NPP site under a limited construction licence issued by the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK). Director General of the ROSATOM Alexey Likhachev, and First Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Turkish Republic, Fatih Donmez, took part in the ceremony.