Russia's Atomstroiexport has offered to cut the price of power from its planned nuclear power plant in Turkey by 27 percent, the state Anatolian news agency said on Friday.Atomstroiexport and its partners -- Russia's Inter Rao (IRAO.MM) and Turkey's Park Teknik -- will sell power from the planned plant for $0.1535 kilowatt hour, instead of $0.2116, Anatolian said, citing Duran Gokkaya, general manager of Tetas, the state power company.
Atomstroiexport was the only bidder in a September tender for Turkey's first nuclear license.
I put a fair amount of effort last month into determining why the original tender was so expensive, but details of the bid were not public knowledge. In any case, the Russians have now offered a new price that, while steep, is not unreasonable. We'll see if the Turks take it.
Turkey isn't like to take anything highter than 8-10 cents/KW Hr. That's what they are paying for natural gas. Plus, Turkey wants to be a regional exporter of electricity which is not going to happen at 15 cents/KW hr.
ReplyDeleteThe Russians must think they have Turkey at a disadvantage because they were the only bidder. Turkey has the option of rejecting the Russian bid and starting over. If they do, to attract other bidders they must address a slew of issues they ignored, at their peril, in the first tender, which is why there were no other bidders.
More details at Idaho Samizdat
What confuses me is that with the recent decline of the ruble against the dollar the Russians should be able to offer 10 cents/kW-hr and still make a very nice profit, unless the public information on VVER costs is simply wrong. Perhaps the Russians are planning on paying for the plant turning a profit before the end of their 15-year operating contract and that's what's driving the price so high.
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