Turkey has entered into talks with China, Russia, and South Korea on possible deals to build the country’s second and third nuclear power plants (NPPs), and with the US and UK on small modular reactors (SMRs).

The disclosure was made by Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey’s energy minister, during a meeting with newspaper editors on Monday. The projects are part of a huge programme of works that the government is preparing over the next 12 years, Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Bayraktar said: “Between now and 2035 we have about $200bn worth of projects, some of which will be initiated and completed within this period, while for some, the preparations for the legal infrastructure will be made.”

The minister said the second NPP would be built in the Black Sea province of Sinop and the third would be built in the Thrace region of European Turkey.

Competition for these schemes is already heating up. So far, interest has been expressed by a joint venture between France’s Framatome and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, American nuclear engineer Westinghouse and China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation. And in February, the Korea Electric Power Corporation contacted the government of Turkey to propose the construction of four reactors with a total power output of 5.6GW (see further reading).

As well as nuclear schemes, the spending will encompass renewables, natural gas, oil, and electricity distribution networks.

For renewables, Turkey wants to build 1.5GW of wind turbines a year, both onshore and offshore. In the next 12 years, Turkey aims to reach 30GW of installed wind capacity.

Russia’s Rosatom is building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in the southwestern province of Mersin. The $20bn Akkuyu NPP is expected to enter service next year.