Turk PM sees no postponement for nuclear tender

Monday, September 22, 2008

ANKARA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday there was no plan to postpone a tender to build and operate Turkey's first nuclear power plant, scheduled for Wednesday.

Turkey has set a deadline of Sept. 24 for bids to build the plant at Akkuyu near Mersin on the Mediterranean coast with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts, plus or minus 25 percent.

Media reports over the weekend speculated the tender would be delayed due to poor market conditions that would reduce the level of interest from potential investors.

Companies such as Sabanci, General Electric, Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Spanish utility Iberdrola SA have expressed interest in the tender.

An energy ministry source said previously that firms purchasing tender documents also included Korean Electric Power Corp, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Japan's Itochu Corporation, France's Vinci Construction Grands Projets , Suez-Tractebel and Russian state firm Atomstroyexport.

The tender is for the first of three planned nuclear power plants. Turkey is heavily dependent on energy imports.

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