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Situation in the Baltic energy system has complicated substantially - Sergey Kondratyev AtomInfo.Ru, PUBLISHED May 28, 2011 Sergey Kondratyev, Head of the Real Sector Group, Department of Economics, Institute for Energy and Finance (Russia): After the Ignalina NPP was put out of operation, the situation in the Baltic energy system has complicated substantially. For instance, Lithuania that had been a major energy exporter during the whole post-Soviet period (in 2009, its exports of energy exceeded imports by 2.9 bln kilowatt-hours) has now turned into an importer (nowadays, about 56% of the demand is met by imported power, which is one of the highest figures in the world). As a result, prices volatility increased significantly in the domestic market, which affected rather negatively dynamics of energy consumption: in 2010, Lithuania was the only of the Baltic states (and countries of the Baltic basin) that reduced energy consumption by 4.9% instead of increasing it. Undoubtedly, in this situation, Lithuanian business (not only in construction) is interested in construction of the Baltic NPP, as it will not only increase reliability of power supply in the region, but ensure more predictability in price dynamics in the energy market. Contrary to the business, Lithuanian politicians have been against the construction from the start. However, within last three years, Lithuania's intentions to build a nuclear plant in its own territory failed to turn into a project implementation stage. In the situation of toughening environmental standards (while most capacity in heating generation was put into operation in the Soviet times and has not undergone any serious modernization yet) and the need to put old thermal plants out of operation, the Baltic energy system can face significant energy deficit as early as in 2017-2018. Probably, politicians fail to understand it now, but business does. In these circumstances, it is the Baltic NPP that can prevent the situation in the Baltic energy system taking the negative way (i.e., covering the deficit by increasing energy generation at thermal plants with high costs, boosting imports from North European countries and, as a result, significant growth in prices). Participation of the Lithuanian business in construction of the Baltic NPP must be seen as a new opportunity to earn money for Lithuanian companies which under the current slow-down in the construction and the economic recession found themselves in a situation that leaves much to be desired. And such developments should be welcomed, first of all, by the Lithuanian government and parliament, because it is them who will collect more taxes and have more workplaces in case Lithuanian companies take part in the project. Topics: East Europe, Lithuania Other news: U.S. lifts market restrictions against Rosatom Rosatom will no longer be required to get a special license from the U.S. Department of Commerce to cooperate with American companies. Russia lacks personnel to dismantle nuclear sites Russia is to decommission and dismantle 42 nuclear facilities by 2015 and 188 by 2020, Rosatom department head Yevgeny Komarov said. ARMZ acquires Australian uranium producer in $1.2 bln deal ARMZ will pay eight Australian dollars per share, which represents a 15.5 percent premium on the average market price for 20 trading days. |
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