Brussels, 10/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - With its formal approval of a proposal for a nuclear power station at Visaginas and a legislative package on a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Kubilius government has put Lithuania and its Baltic neighbours on the way to greater energy independence from Russia.
On Wednesday 9 May, the Lithuanian government approved the Bill on a new nuclear power plant to be built at Visaginas by 2020. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius hailed a “historic day” for his country on its way to becoming more “energy independent”. Lithuania's only nuclear power station, at Ignalia, was shut down in 2009 after 26 years in operation. Closure of the Ignalia power plant, with its RMBK-1500 - the same type as those in the Chernobyl power plant - brought a sharp rise in electricity prices in Lithuania and increased its dependence on Russia for energy. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the three Baltic states, import 62% of their electricity - the highest level in the EU.
The new 1,300 megawatt power plant, construction of which is due to begin in 2015, is expected to be up and running by 2020-2022. It will be built by Japanese group Hitachi. With its €5 billion price tag, the Visaginas power plant will be the largest investment in Lithuania since the Communist era. Alongside Hitachi, which will have a 20% stake in the consortium building the power plant, the Lithuanian government will have a 38% stake, and Estonia and Latvia will have 22% and 20% holdings respectively. Vilnius says that the door remains open for Poland, which, at the end of last year, declined to become involved in this project in order to construct its own power plant by 2020.
In addition to giving its backing to the nuclear project, the Kubilius government approved draft legislative texts on plans for an LNG terminal, to be built in the port of Klaipeda by 2014, and for Lithuanian power grid synchronisation with the continental European network. “These projects are economically beneficial for Lithuania and its people, and they also guarantee energy security and greater integration into Europe”, said Kubilius in a press release. (EH/transl.rt)