Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a major step forward in the country’s energy sector and its first nuclear power plant.

"By the end of this year, we will begin trial production and deliver the first electricity from Akkuyu (Nuclear Power Plant)," Erdogan said at the Istanbul Natural Resources Summit on Friday.

With the completion of the other reactors, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is expected to operate at full capacity in 2028, he stated.

The president emphasised Türkiye's role in addressing global energy security, particularly in light of Europe’s ongoing energy challenges.

"We have undertaken numerous initiatives to contribute to regional energy security in order to help ease the energy crisis faced by European countries," Erdogan said.

"Türkiye's emergence as a safe haven during Europe's energy crises is by no means a coincidence," he added.

The president also signalled the final stages of the ambitious project, which began in 2017: "The construction of the first reactor of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is nearing completion."

In addition to nuclear advances, Erdogan also touched on the country’s resource efforts abroad. "We aim to begin the first production this year at one of the gold fields in Niger for which we obtained a license,” he said.

Underlining the nation's energy achievements, Erdogan said: "With the operations in Gabar (in southeastern Türkiye), our daily oil production across Türkiye surpassed 135,000 barrels as of the end of March 2025, setting a record."

Oruc Reis seismic exploration vessel

Erdogan said Türkiye's seismic exploration vessel Oruc Reis continues its 3D seismic exploration activities in three different locations, each covering an area of ​​5,000 square kilometres in the Somali seas.

"So far, 3,700 square kilometres, or 90%, of the 4,111 square kilometres project area has been scanned. Oruc Reis will hopefully complete its work this month. If these studies yield positive results, we will move on to the next stage, namely drilling.

"Within the scope of the production sharing agreements we signed with Somalia, it will conduct work in three separate land areas of 16,000 square kilometres" in the East African country, he said.

The Turkish president said the drilling phase will be initiated after the seismic data collection activities.

If these studies result in a discovery, the strategic cooperation between the two countries will gain a different dimension, Erdogan said.

"Our Somali brothers and sisters will also benefit very seriously from this process. This process, which means technology transfer, infrastructure development, increased employment and new investments for Somalia, will hopefully accelerate Somalia's economic development even more," he added.

Oruc Reis, docked at Mogadishu seaport last October for its mission to explore oil and natural gas off Somalia's coast.

Türkiye strengthening ties with Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia on energy

Erdogan said Türkiye is strengthening its "strong" relations with Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia in the field of energy.

"All these steps are of great importance in terms of providing access to new energy resources in Asia and increasing our energy security," he said.

Highlighting that a joint bidding agreement with Hungary's MOL company for three different fields in Hungary, Erdogan said they also completed agreements for the supply of liquefied natural gas from 2027 with two major oil companies based in UK and France.

"We have also made important agreements for the supply of natural gas with Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. We have taken many initiatives to contribute to the energy security in the region in order to alleviate the energy crisis experienced by European countries," he added.

Turkmen gas via Caspian pipeline

He said the flow of Turkmenistan's natural gas through Iran started on March 1, and over 250 million cubic meters of gas has been supplied through this line so far.

"We will hopefully have ensured the flow of a total of 1.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas by the end of the year.

"At this point, our first plan is to extend the agreement for another five years, and our ultimate goal is to bring Turkmen gas to our country via the Caspian pipeline," he said.

"If we can achieve this, we will have the opportunity to provide a much higher amount of gas flow for both our country and Europe."

The president said works in the field of renewable energy are also continuing at full speed.