The head of the Ministry of Energy spoke about the main directions for improving the energy security of Belarus, the measures taken to diversify the country's fuel and energy balance.
He outlined the construction of the nuclear power plant as a key project. Belarus has become the first foreign site where the state corporation Rosatom has built a nuclear power plant with pressurized water reactors of the third generation with increased safety. In 2021, the first power unit of the plant was put into commercial operation, the commissioning of the second power unit is planned this year.
The benefits of using the peaceful atom are already tangible and produce an economic effect. From the moment the first unit of the BelNPP was included in the unified energy system (November 3, 2020) until it was put into scheduled preventive maintenance (April 25, 2022), 9.3 billion kWh of electricity was generated, which replaced about 2.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
With the commissioning of the second power unit, BelNPP will increase the volume of electricity production up to 18.5 billion kWh per year. The plant will replace about 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7 million tons per year. “With the launch of the BelNPP, the share of natural gas in the energy balance of Belarus is planned to be reduced to 60%,” the Minister noted.
Another area that is important for the diversification of the energy balance is the development of renewable energy facilities. Their installed capacity over the past 6 years in Belarus has increased 5 times - from 120 to 600 MW, electricity generation - from 270 to 1,260 million kWh.
