1st power unit of Belarus’ NPP to be put into commercial operation in Feb 2021, 2nd – in May 2022

<p> MINSK, Oct 28 - PrimePress. The first power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (Astravyets District, Grodno Oblast) is planned to be put into commercial operation in February 2021, the second – in May 2022, read the bills on the ratification of amendments to the Belarusian-Russian agreements on cooperation in the construction of the Belarusian NPP passed by the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on October 28, 2020, the parliament’s press office reports. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The House of Representatives passed on October 28 the bill on the ratification of the protocol on amendments to the intergovernmental agreement with the Russian Federation on cooperation in the construction of the nuclear power plant (NPP) in Belarus, and the bill on the ratification of the protocol on amendments to the Belarusian-Russian agreement on the provision of an export credit for the construction of the NPP. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The commissioning of the Belarusian NPP is postponed: the first power unit – from December 2019 to February 2021; the second power unit – from 2020 to May 2022. In order to ensure the use of the credit funds in full, a protocol was signed to increase the loan availability period by two years, and to extend the grace period and the credit period, accordingly. The interest rate on the loan has been reduced to 3.3% per annum and the rate regime has been changed from floating to fixed,” reads the statement. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to the first ratified protocols, the parties are taking necessary measures to commission the first power unit of the Belarusian NPP in 2021, and the second in 2022, as per acceptance certificates. According to the second protocol, a change in the conditions for the provision of the state export credit by the government of the Russian Federation for the construction of the Belarusian NPP is envisaged to compensate for possible economic impacts on Belarus, which may result from the postponement of the commissioning of the power units. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The fixed interest rate on the loan at 3.3% per annum will improve the performance of the NPP construction project in the face of declining world prices for hydrocarbon fuel, compensate for Belarus’ losses from the postponement of the commissioning of the NPP, reduce Belarus’ expenses on servicing external government loans, and hedge the risk of uncertainty in connection with the rejection of the variable LIBOR rate by the global financial market actors in the medium term,” the press office says. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The new interest rate on the loan will be applied from the beginning of the next interest period after the entry into force of the protocol. The protocol also provides for a reduction in the accumulation period of overdue debt from 180 to 90 days and the inclusion of overdue debts on all state loans of the Russian Federation and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development in the consolidated overdue debt on the loan for the construction of the Belarusian NPP. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Earlier, the Russian government approved a draft protocol on amendments to the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement of 2011 on providing Belarus with a state export loan for the construction of the nuclear power plant. It was signed in mid-July during the visit of Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko to Moscow. The new agreements provide for the extension of the loan utilization period for two years until the end of 2022 at a rate reduced to 3.3%. Belarus will pay off the principal debt within 15 years, starting from April 1, 2023 instead of April 1, 2021 as was previously agreed. Belarus has used $4.5 billion of the borrowed amount as of September 1, 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Oblast also referred to as Astravyets) will have two units with a combined capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts. The AES-2006 Russian standard design of (generation 3+) was chosen for its construction. Rosatom’s division Atomstroyexport acts as the general contractor for the NPP construction. The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant RUE is the project customer and the future operator of the NPP. The nuclear reactor of the first power unit was started in October 2020. According to the schedule, the first start of the first power unit is planned for November 7, 2020. The first power unit is expected to be put into commercial operation in the first quarter of 2021, the second power unit – in 2022. End </p>

2020-10-29

Primepress