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40 I Eastern Europe bne November 2018
The Astravets nuclear power plant in Belarus is almost complete.
Belarus' new nuclear power plant will change the balance of energy in the Baltics
Ben Aris in Berlin
Construction of Belarus’s new Astravets nuclear power plant is almost complete. Under a deal signed in 2007, Russia’s Atomstroyex- port is building the controversial $11bn plant that is 90% financed by the Krem- lin, and the first reactors of the 2.4GW plant are due to go online in December 2019 with the power station fully opera- tional year later.
Belarus’s neighbours have been against the plant from the beginning, especially Lithuania and Poland.
Located in the western Grodno region, near the border with Lithuania, the plant is only 60km from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, less than the 100km from populated areas the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recom- mends following the nuclear disaster
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in Fukushima in Japan in 2011, raising concerns about the safety of those close to the plant.
At the same time the neighbouring EU members are also concerned the Rus- sian-sponsored energy project will end up being another energy sector foreign policy cudgel that the Kremlin can use to
sector in a difficult position with most of its domestic utility companies unable to earn a living.
Belarus in the grip of Russian energy
Belarus is a deficit energy producer and almost entirely dependent on Russia for its fuel and energy needs. The total installed capacity of power plants in
“Belarus’s neighbours have been against the plant from the beginning”
threaten the former Soviet vassal states. But even putting those concerns aside for a moment the size of the power plant will significantly alter the balance of energy supplies and Lithuania in particular could find its own power
Belarus is circa 8.4 GW, according to the IAEA, of which the vast majority is gas burning.
With no significant hydrocarbon resources of its own and only a little