Rosatom has awarded a contract to TSM Enerji to carry out the remaining construction work at the 4.8GW Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey.

As per the Turkish trade registry, TSM Enerji is owned by three Russian companies.

The project holding company, Akkuyu Nuclear, inked the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with TSM Enerji after scrapping its previous agreement with Turkey-based IC Ictas.

Akkuyu Nuclear, which is a joint stock company majority-owned by Rosatom, did not reveal the reasons for terminating the earlier contract.

In a statement, Akkuyu Nuclear said: “All works under current subcontracts will be transferred to TSM … Similar new contracts will be signed between TSM and subcontractors.”

The project holding company stated that the EPC contract with TSM Enerji will make sure that the work is wrapped up by previously agreed dates and that workers are given payments on time.

Last month, the fourth unit of the $20bn nuclear power plant broke ground.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is being built on the southern coast of Turkey in the Mersin province. It will be powered by four VVER-1200 units that individually have a capacity of 1.2GW.

After all the four units are operational, the nuclear power project will generate nearly 35 billion kWh per annum. This is enough power to meet 10% of the electricity requirements of Turkey.

Rosatom started construction on the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in 2018. In mid-2020, construction was started on the second unit, while the third VVER-1200 reactor broke ground in March 2021.

According to Rosatom, work is going on across all areas of the nuclear power plant with the involvement of more than 25,000 people.