Mideast nuclear energy goals tested as Turkey, Saudi Arabia eye breakthroughs
Though the region’s nuclear energy boom was supposed to be in full swing by 2025, key projects have all fallen behind schedule or fizzled entirely — but new momentum could be emerging.
Turkey’s nuclear debut may finally be in sight: In late December, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced that Turkey had secured $9 billion in new Russian financing for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, with the 4.8 gigawatt (GW) facility on the country’s southern coast expected to begin initial operations in 2026 — three years behind the original target.
The news offers a snapshot of the slow progress that has come to define the Middle East’s nuclear energy push amid persistent challenges. Akkuyu, if fully commissioned by 2028 as planned, would become only the third operational nuclear power plant in the region, and it is expected to supply roughly 10% of the country’s electricity.
Bayraktar’s announcement also caps a dramatic year for nuclear energy in the Middle East, as 2026 shapes up to be a pivotal test of whether the region can close the gap between ambition and delivery. By 2025, the region’s nuclear energy boom was supposed to be in full swing, but projects in Egypt, Turkey and Iran have all fallen behind schedule, while others planned in Saudi Arabia and Jordan never got off the ground.
Each missed milestone reflects different challenges — sanctions, financing, geopolitics, technical delays — but together they illustrate how difficult it remains to translate costly nuclear aspirations into electrons on the grid.
