Opinions & Interviews
Minister: BelNPP will provide new opportunities for e-transport development
Viktor Karankevich
SMOLEVICHI DISTRICT, 15 July (BelTA) – The Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) will open up new opportunities for the development of electric transport, Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said as he attended E-Transport Day celebrations at the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone on 15 July, BelTA has learned.
“The head of state made decisions to promote the use of electric transport, develop the electric charging infrastructure. This creates the basis for successful promotion of electric cars in the domestic market, new jobs and more comfortable living conditions for citizens. The commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will open up new opportunities on this front. The nuclear plant will be a reliable and clean source of energy in our country, which will spur the development of not only electric transport but also science, healthcare and industry in general. This means new technologies for the economy,” Viktor Karankevich said.
“Today we can already see a positive trend in electricity consumption in terms of electric transport charging. In 2019, this figure stood at 3.8 million kWh. In Q1 2020 it made up 2 million kWh. We expect to hit the mark of 12 million kWh by the end of the year. Electricity consumption is forecast to increase by more than three times over 2019,” he explained.
According to the minister, the head of state was right by saying that electric transport is the future. According to the estimates of international agencies, one third of the entire vehicle fleet in the world will go electric by 2040. “The use of electric transport means fewer harmful emissions, improvement of the urban environment and road safety. The development of this segment is an important priority for Belarus,” added the minister.
Viktor Karankevich also thanked the administration of the Great Stone Industrial Park and Chinese partners for their support in organizing the E-Transport Day. “The Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone is hosting the event of the kind for the first time. I hope it will become a good tradition in the future,” he stressed.
“Today's event is an honor for the park. We are happy to host the E-Transport Day. Today on display are samples that have already been produced in the country, that are currently tested and the ones that will be produced in the future. As an example, a month ago we welcomed an investor-resident from Lithuania who will make electric scooters for our consumers – citizens of Belarus,” Head of the Administration of the Great Stone Park Aleksandr Yaroshenko said.
Director General of SZAO Industrial Park Development Company Yan Gang stressed that the development of electric transport on new energy resources has a promising future for Belarus. “Over the past 20 years the automaking industry has been gradually developing alongside the development of science and technology. Traditional vehicles that run on petrol and diesel give way to hybrid and eco-friendly ones,” he said.
Humankind is shifting from over-reliance on traditional energy resources to developing green, renewable energy sources. This transition goes in line with the United Nations Environment Program, which is actively promoted around the world. “The 21st century is an era of new energy resources. Belarus is one of the main countries - importers of energy resources in the EAEU, and the promotion of new energy sources and other green industries will undoubtedly contribute to the economic development of the state in the future,” the director general said.
According to Yan Gang, the Great Stone Industrial Park, as an important platform for trade and economic cooperation, is ready to invest even more efforts and resources in the development of this area. “We will attract even more enterprises from China, Europe and the United States to develop production chains of primary and secondary sectors to produce cars using new energy sources, to create favorable conditions for launching the production of domestic brands of Belarus. Now the park is moving from the construction and development stage to a high-quality development stage. Machine building is one of the priority areas,” he said.
The E-Transport Day was held in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone on 15 July. The park hosted a demonstration area to showcase various models of electric transport - from electric buses and electric cars to electric motorcycles and electric pumps. The event was attended by representatives of MAZ, Belkommunmash, the United Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the instrument-making plant Optron, Belorusneft, Geely, resident companies of the Great Stone Industrial Park, Chengdu Xinzhu, and Greencars. The event was organized by the Energy Ministry of Belarus and the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone.
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