Belarus likely to stop power imports after first nuclear power plant online

Belarus is likely to stop importing electricity after its first-ever nuclear power plant is completed in the Hrodna region, Alyaksandr Mikhalevich, a member of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, told reporters in Minsk.

He described the construction of the nuclear facility as an “import substitution project despite the fact that the design and the fuel are Russian.”

Belarus has imported 10-30% of its power requirements since the 1990s. Half of its power plants are out-of-date facilities built in the 1960s-70s and peak utilisation rates only reach just over 60%. “It turns out that the generation of power by these plants costs us more than the import of cheaper electricity in Russia and Ukraine,” Mikhalevich said.

Belarus has exported virtually no electricity but plans to start doing so after the completion of the nuclear power plant, according to the scientist.