MINSK, 3 March (BelTA) – The electricity that the Belarusian nuclear power plant will generate will be fully utilized inside the country. Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk made the statement in an interview with the Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos Rytas, BelTA has learned.
Asked about the possibility of exporting the Belarusian nuclear power plant’s electricity, the official said: “When the decision to go ahead with building the nuclear power plant was made, electricity export was not viewed as the main goal. Belarus does not have a sufficient number of fuel and energy resources of its own. The nuclear power plant will be built to enhance our energy security. Since the prime cost of electricity generated by nuclear power plants is low, the overall competitive ability of our economy will be raised. This is why the electricity the Belarusian nuclear power plant will generate will be fully used domestically.”
The Deputy Energy Minister reminded that the decision to implement the nuclear energy program in Belarus had been made primarily for the sake of reducing the prime cost of electricity generation and diversifying the fuels used for electricity generation.
Mikhail Mikhadyuk pointed out that in the last few years Belarus has done some very serious work to modernize the existing power-generating installations and create new ones using state-of-the-art technologies. “We are working hard to develop renewable power engineering, including installations reliant on local fuels. We are implementing a large-scale energy-saving program. This is why in the future the potential of the Belarusian energy system may indeed be used to export electricity to neighboring countries. Time will tell what scenario will be implemented,” concluded the Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister.