Latvia not to buy electricity from Belarus’ NPP – Latvian prime minister

<p> MINSK, Aug 26 - PrimePress. Against the backdrop of political instability in Belarus, Latvia announced the termination of electricity trade with Belarus in the event of the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (Astravyets, Grodno Oblast). Prime Minister of Latvia Krisjanis Karins stated this on August 25 after a government meeting. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “Latvia will stop trading in electricity with Belarus in the event of the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravyets,” Karins said, “Considering the events in Belarus, concerns over nuclear safety cannot by grow.” </p> <p>   </p> <p> The power startup of the first unit of the Belarusian NPP is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020, its industrial commissioning – for the first quarter of 2021.The startup of the second unit is planned for 2022. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The NPP construction worries Lithuania the most, since the plant is only 50 km away from its capital, Vilnius. Since the very beginning of the construction of the NPP, Lithuania has been making efforts to stop it, calling the NPP unsafe, and to block the future export of electricity to be generated by the NPP to the European Union. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Region 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. The startup of the first power unit was postponed from 2018 to 2019 and then to the third quarter of 2020. The second unit is expected to be launched in 2021. 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. End </p>

2020-08-26

Primepress