Ankara may consider purchasing Ukrainian nuclear fuel for Turkish power plants
Turkey may consider the possibility of purchasing nuclear fuel from Ukraine for Turkish nuclear power plants, said Turkish Ambassador to Ukraine Yagmur Ahmet Guldere in an interview with LB.ua.
"We are ready for any cooperation in this field, any dialogue with those countries that are ready for the mutual dialogue, including Ukraine. If there is a proposal, we will be ready to consider it," the ambassador said.
At the same time, the diplomat pointed out that Turkey can contribute to the development of Ukraine's energy security. He believes that Ukraine can still become a stakeholder in the TANAP gas pipeline and diversify gas supplies through Turkish gas deliveries.
«... Will the Turkish gas pipelines be able to supply, for example, Asian gas to Europe, and will Ukraine be able to buy it at the exit point? Let me put it this way: this issue can be discussed. There is a goal to increase TANAP's throughput from 16 to 31 billion. If Ukraine wishes to buy this gas, we do not see any obstacles not to sell it," the ambassador said.
The 1,850 kilometer long TANAP pipeline is designed to transport Azerbaijani gas from Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz deposit from the Georgian-Turkish border to Turkey’s western borders. At a cost of almost $8 billion, the gas pipeline’s throughput capacity will be at least 16 billion cubic meters, of which 10 billion will be sent to Europe and 6 billion to the western regions of Turkey. In future, the capacity will be increased to 24 billion cubic meters per year, and then 31 billion.
The TANAP project’s shareholders are: SOCAR (51%), SOCAR Turkiye Enerji (7%), BOTAS (30%) and BP (12%).
The project’s official foundation laying ceremony was held in the Turkish province of Kars on March 17, 2015.