Turkey signed on Thursday an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the development of coal fields in southern Turkey to generate electricity

Turkey signed on Thursday an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the development of coal fields in southern Turkey to generate electricity.
  
The agreement between Abu Dhabi-based TAQA and Turkey's state-run power company EUAS marks the biggest Arab investment in the Turkish energy sector, a senior energy ministry official told AFP.
  
"This is a very serious investment, a significant investment," Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said at the signing ceremony in Ankara. "This is the second-biggest investment made in Turkey after the two nuclear power plant projects," he added.
  
The government plans to build three nuclear power plants in hopes of preventing a possible energy shortage and reducing dependence on foreign energy supplies.
  
Turkey struck a deal with Russia in 2010 to build the country's first power plant at Akkuyu in the southern Mersin province.
  
Ankara is officially in negotiations with China, Japan, South Korea and Canada to build the second nuclear reactor.
  
With the latest agreement, the coal reserves at Afsin-Elbistan basin in southern Turkey will be put to use for electricity production. "This agreement gives our company an exclusive right to negotiate with the Turkish government on this project for the next six months," an official from TAQA told AFP.
 
The negotiations will lead to the signing of a "host government agreement" in the second quarter of 2013, establishing more detailed terms, he added.