Belarus plans to increase share of peat in energy production

<p> MINSK, Mar 3 - PrimePress. Belarus plans to increase the share of peat and peat products in the balance of locally available fuels, which was about 15% in 2020. Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich made a statement to this effect during his visit to the Braslavsky Peat Processing Plant (Vitebsk Oblast) on March 3, the Energy Ministry's press service said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to the Ministry of Energy, about 2 million tonnes of peat gets annually extracted in Belarus, from which 1.2 million tonnes of peat products are produced. About 80% of that production goes for domestic consumption, which allows substituting more than 450 million cubic metres of natural gas a year. </p> <p>   </p> <p> One of the promising areas for the use of peat, according to Karankevich, is boiler houses of the housing and utilities sector. Three such projects are already being implemented in Minsk Oblast, and eight more are being under preparation. This fuel direction is planned to be developed in Vitebsk Oblast as well, including using the resource base of Braslav Peat Briquette Factory. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, the 2021-2025 Energy Saving state programme approved by the Government in February 2021 aims at reducing Belarus’ dependence on imported energy resources by maximizing the use of domestic fuel and energy resources in the fuel and energy balance. In particular, by 2026, the amount of fuel and energy resources saved should be 2.5-3 million tonnes of equivalent fuel, and the share of local fuel and energy resources in gross consumption should be at least 16.1%. End </p>

2021-03-04

Primepress