By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff reporter
ANKARA ― Korea's Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan said Thursday that the country hopes to chalk up substantive results this year in its initiative to win a nuclear energy deal in Turkey.
Together with the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Seoul is trying to negotiate a deal in the Turkish government's plan to establish a pair of nuclear power plants on the Black Sea at Sinop.
``We plan to brace for two-track strategies involving public negotiations between the two governments and private talks between corporations,'' Choi said after meeting with his Turkish counterpart Taner Yildiz, minister of energy and natural resources.
``We have to strengthen cooperation between the governments as well as develop an alliance of those who will actually take part in the projects. If we put forth great efforts, I expect that we will get substantive results by the end of this year.''
The Turkish government has wanted to build nuclear power plants to cut down its dependence on energy imports and to meet the ever increasing demand for electricity.
Toward that end, it has inked a nuclear energy agreement with Russia early this month under which power plants would be built near the Mediterranean port of Akkuyu. Along the same lines, Ankara seeks a partnership with Korea to set up nuclear plants at Sinop.
No other competitors of Korea and KEPCO are currently bidding for the Sinop projects.
Should Asia's fourth-largest economy win the deal, it would mark back-to-back achievements after the mega-sized nuclear agreement reached half a year ago.
During the waning days of 2009, KEPCO sealed a contract worth an estimated $20 billion with the United Arab Emirates, the biggest energy deal as yet in the Middle East.
Assuming that Korea would maintain operation of the facilities after wrapping up construction, the value of the agreement is estimated to double to some $40 billion.
Choi said that the nation aims to carve out a fifth of the world market in the decades to come.
``We strive to account for approximately 20 percent of the market over the long haul. Toward that end, we are nurturing specialists and helping local companies maximize their capacity under our long-term plans,'' Choi said.
Over the next 20 years, upside of 500 nuclear power plants are expected to be in demand as the world attempts to reduce the high reliance on fossil fuels and reduce climate change.