ISTANBUL - Turkey is in contact with China regarding the construction of a planned third nuclear power plant and is surveying sites for a fourth, a top ministry official said.

Russia's Rosatom is building Turkey's first nuclear power plant in its southern Mersin province, with the first reactor expected to go online next year.

The country plans to build a second one in the northern province of Sinop and a third in the northwestern province of Kirklareli.

Turkey needs to generate slightly more than 11% of electricity through nuclear energy by 2035, and 29% by 2053 to reach its climate goals, Sari Salih, the head of nuclear infrastructure at the energy ministry told a local nuclear industry conference on Wednesday.

"We are pressing ahead with site surveys for a fourth nuclear plant project... Turkey needs 20 GW of nuclear power generation capacity for its 2053 climate goals," Sari said, according to a statement.

Turkey is in contact with Russia and South Korea for its planned second plant and China for a third plant, Sari said.

It is also exploring small modular reactor technology with British, French and U.S. companies.

(Reporting by Can Sezer; Editing by Daren Butler and Barbara Lewis)