Turkey in talks with Acwa Power on 5GW solar projects

Turkey has begun discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power on 5 gigawatts of solar power generation, energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

The agreement for the first phase, comprising 2,000 megawatt (MW) generation, will be completed in the first quarter of 2026, Reuters reported, citing a ministry statement quoting the minister.

A 1,000MW project is planned in Sivas and another 1,000MW in Taseli, Bayraktar said.

In July Bloomberg reported that Acwa Power, which is 44 percent owned by the Public Investment Fund, was close to striking a deal to develop two large-scale solar plants in Turkey.

Last year Turkish vice president Cevdet Yilmaz estimated Acwa Power’s investments to be worth up to $5 billion.

Ankara received concessional financing totalling $748 million from the World Bank in August to modernise and expand its power transmission infrastructure with large-scale solar and wind projects.

According to Bayraktar, Russia has provided $9 billion in new funding for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which will be used in 2026 and 2027.

Ankara expected the power plant to be operational in 2026.

In December 2024 Bayraktar expected Turkey to begin trial production at its first nuclear plant in 2025.

The 4,800MW Akkuyu plant will cost $20 billion, with plans to build at least three nuclear power plants to generate 15,000MW.

Turkey plans to add 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2035, with a longer-term goal of 20GW by 2050, including small modular reactors.

The shares of Acwa Power, which are listed on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), closed at SAR182 on Sunday, down 52 percent year-to-date.