Belarus starts testing grid with of cross-border power lines with Lithuania disconnected

<p> MINSK, Apr 8 - PrimePress. Belarus has started testing its energy system by disconnecting cross-border power lines with Lithuania, the press service of the Energy Ministry of Belarus said in a statement. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The tests are being conducted to check the reliability of the Belarusian energy system in view of the planned withdrawal of the energy systems of the Baltic states from the BRELL ring, which unites Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The 24-hour testing program envisages the disconnection of high voltage lines, monitoring the operation of the energy system and the inclusion of high voltage lines with the necessary safety requirements,” the statement reads. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Similar tests will be conducted on April 11. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “These works will be carried out as part of the programme agreed with the system operators of the BRELL countries,” the statement said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As reported in June 2018, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the European Commission signed a political agreement in Brussels to synchronise the power grids of the three Baltic states with those of continental Europe. By 2025, the Baltic states are expected to permanently withdraw from the BRELL ring. An agreement to open the Russian-Latvian border to electricity imports from Russia was signed by Baltic system operators in September 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Lithuania has been the main opponent of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant; Lithuanian authorities have criticised the future Belarusian nuke plant almost from the moment Minsk decided to build it and are initiating a ban on imports of Belarusian electricity to the EU. That country's parliament had previously ruled that the Belarusian power plant posed a threat to Lithuania’s national security. </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 ceremony of the official launch of the NPP took place in early November 2020. The first power unit of the NPP is expected to be put into commercial operation in 2021, the second power unit – in 2022. End </p> <p>   </p> <p>   </p>

2021-04-09

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