Lithuania imports electricity worth €11m per month from Belarus in 2021

<p> MINSK, Feb 3 - PrimePress. Lithuania will continue importing electricity from Belarus, including energy generated by the Belarusian nuclear power plant (Astravyets District, Grodno Oblast) worth €11 million per month in 2021, head of Lithuania’s Parliamentary Committee for National Security and Defense Laurynas Kaščiūnas told reporters on February 3, 2021. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The current consumption of Belarusian electricity, i.e. electricity produced by the Belarusian NPP, is about 12% of the total to the tune of 11 million euros per month. We can say that the NPP operation is also paid for by our consumers,” said Kaščiūnas. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, the Lithuanian government decided on January 13, 2021 to appoint a high-level commission to work out measures to enhance safety of the Lithuanian energy system, its effective synchronization with the European power grids, and measures to reduce threats posed by the Belarusian nuclear power plant, including by blocking the supply of electricity from Belarus. The Commission will be chaired by Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Kaščiūnas said the blocking of the electricity import from Belarus is closely linked with the synchronization of the grids, so it is important to resolve disagreements with Latvia and Estonia as soon as possible. “We all understand that the current situation benefits some individual companies in some countries. Of course, these companies are capable of doing anything to make synchronization slow down or not happen at all. That’s what we need to think about,” he said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys, over the past 10 days, half of all electricity has been imported into Lithuania through the Lithuanian-Belarusian section from the Belarusian NPP and the other half comes from Russia. “Since we experience a huge shortage of electricity, we consume this energy and pay for it,” Kreivys says. </p> <p>   </p> <p> He said on January 13, 2021 that the measures taken to prevent the electricity import from the Belarusian NPP to Lithuania were insufficient. In this regard, it was planned in early February 2021 to plan the complete blockage of electricity supplies from the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Lithuania has been chairing the Baltic Council of Ministers since January 1, 2021, and Kreivys hopes that the boycott of the Belarusian NPP will be one of top points on its agenda. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator sent in late November 2020 to Latvian and Estonian operators a revised draft methodology that will hinder trade in Belarusian electricity to be generated by the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Lithuania released the official statement on the refusal to approve the methodology for electricity trade between the Baltic States and third countries after the launch of the Belarusian NPP, since it does not guarantee the complete boycott of Belarusian electricity. Meanwhile, Latvia and Estonia are already applying the new methodology after its approval by their regulators. </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. According to decree No.447 of November 30, 2020, the first power unit of the NPP will be put into commercial operation in 2021, the second power unit – in the first half of 2022. End </p>

2021-02-04

Primepress