Belarus has started generating electricity at the Astrava nuclear power plant

According to the press release, Litgrid System Management Center today at 11:06. after recording data showing electricity production at the Astrava (CN) Nuclear Power Plant, Litgrid since 11:38. established a capacity of 0 MW for the commercial electricity flow from Belarus. In this way, the requirements of the Law of Necessary Measures to Protect Against Unsafe Threats from Nuclear Power Plants in Third Countries are implemented.

With zero bandwidth, electricity market participants will not be able to trade electricity between Belarus and Lithuania. The operator has already informed the participants of the Nord Pool energy exchange about the changes.

“Lithuania’s position on the Astrava nuclear power plant, which is a geopolitical project of Russia on the territory of Belarus, is consistent, immutable and enshrined in law; it is a threat to our national security and our citizens. After registration the start of electricity generation in this unsafe power plant, our transmission system operator immediately implements the requirement established by law: it completely blocks access to the Lithuanian market through Lithuanian-Belarusian lines and prevents the use of the infrastructure Lithuanian power plant for the needs of the Astravas nuclear power plant.

These national measures ensure that the electricity from the Astravo nuclear power plant is not traded in our market, but no less important are the solutions achieved at the regional level to prevent the electricity from the Astravo nuclear power plant from entering the electricity market of the Baltic, and the EU must play a key role in nuclear safety, ”says Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas.

“According to the law, from the start of operations of the Astravas nuclear power plant, Litgrid will not provide Belarus with an emergency power reserve, which is maintained in the hydroelectric storage capacity of the Kruonis power plant. At present, There is no automation in operation that can activate the units of the Kruonis Hydroaccumulator Plant due to the disconnection of the Astravas NPP due to network congestion.

We continue to monitor the situation and are ready to take the necessary measures to ensure the reliability of Lithuania’s electrical system, ”says Giedrius Radvila, Director of the Department of Systems Management at Litgrid.

In July this year, Litgrid informed operators of other parties to the BRELL agreement, including Belarus, about the exit from the regulatory emergency reserve agreement. Lithuania supplies the capacity of the Kruonis accumulation power plant with reserves for its own needs, using connections with Poland and Sweden and using balancing capacities in the balancing market of the Baltic States.

According to Litgrid analysts, Belarus’ electricity imports in the first half of this year amounted to 0.3 TWh or around 5 percent. all imported electricity during the same period. Most of the electricity is imported into Lithuania from Sweden; in the first half of the year, imports reached 45%.

The electricity systems of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will be physically separated from Belarus and Russia in 2025, following the implementation of synchronization with the grids of continental Europe. A quarter of all scheduled sync work is currently underway. 2020 In October, the European Commission allocated record funds for the second stage of synchronization of the Baltic States with the networks of continental Europe: 720 million. EUR.