GE-Hitachi likely to miss Turkish nuclear deadline

GE's nuclear venture with Hitachi, Japan's third- largest builder of atomic plants, is working on a bid with partners Turkey's Sabanci Holding and Spain's Iberdrola, Bloomberg reported Jack Fuller, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's chief executive officer as saying.

"We are preparing the proposals, I just don't think it can be completed before September 24," he said adding that "The government also wants competition. They want multiple providers of nuclear technology. So if they only get, let's say, one on the 24th, then that probably won't satisfy their needs anyway."

Turkey is among the governments worldwide leaning toward nuclear power to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, blamed for global warming, and as fossil fuel prices surge.

Turkey’s energy minister said on Aug. 25 he rejected a request from four potential bidders to extend the deadline to allow companies to prepare for the auction.

"It's possible the Turkish government will hold onto the 24th and we will be hurt by that," Fuller said. "It's also possible that they will change their mind and give everyone a little bit more time to get the best proposals."

Toshiba Corp's Westinghouse Electric will npt bid in the Turkish tender and will not propose its AP1000 nuclear unit, Dan Lipman, a senior vice president at Westinghouse, also told reporters in London on Thursday.

"It's not clear to us that the authorities in Turkey know exactly what they want and that means to me it could be a long and expensive journey," he said.

The government tender is to build a 4,000-megawatt nuclear plant in the town of Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast to help meet power demand that is rising by eight percent a year.

Westinghouse's parent company Toshiba may be interested in the Turkish market, Lipman said.

Guler Sabanci, the chairwoman of the Turkish company with interests in finance and energy, said on Aug. 26, the partners were reconsidering whether to bid after the government refused to extend the deadline. Iberdrola is Spain's biggest power producer.

DEADLINE FRUSTRATION

"Sabanci Holding and our partners Iberdrola and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy believe there's still a chance the government will extend the deadline for collecting bids, so we're still carrying out the necessary work and preparations," Bloomberg also quoted Selahattin Hakman, head of Sabanci's energy unit as saying.

If the government does not change the deadline, the partners may not bid together in the auction, he said. Six more months is enough to address issues on licensing and insurance, he said, adding that other bidders have also sought an extension.

GE Hitachi plans to offer its Advanced Boiling Water Reactor in Turkey, Fuller said. This type has a generating capacity of between 1,350 and 1,460 megawatts.

Turkey will also build a second plant near Sinop on the Black Sea coast.