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More details about electricity tariffs after Belarusian nuclear power plant launch revealed

SOCHI, 15 April (BelTA) – Electricity tariffs after the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will depend on agreements on the natural gas price among other things. No increase in electricity tariffs for the Belarusian real sector is expected, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk during the Atomexpo forum in Sochi on 15 April.

The official said: “A special working group has been set up to consider various pricing options. We’ve already accomplished a lot adjusting the pricing policy in order to make electricity more appealing for the utilities industry, for Belarusian households, and other areas. The tariff menu has been greatly expanded this year. We continue working on that.”

Agreements on the natural gas price will be a factor to affect the electricity tariffs. “Nuclear energy will substitute only up to 5 billion m3 of natural gas. A lot of electricity will still be generated using natural gas. And a mix of nuclear and gas-powered electricity will be sold. So a lot will depend on gas prices,” the deputy energy minister explained.

The special working group on the tariffs will work constantly. The tariff policy gets revised every year depending on circumstances. As for a possible increase in electricity prices for the real sector, Mikhail Mikhadyuk remarked that no projections like that had been made.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.

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