The Lithuanian government will ask Belarus to abandon its nuclear power plant project that is currently in construction in Ostrovets and instead develop a gas-fired power plant that would be supplied by Lithuania’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Klaipeda. The power plant project is drawing near completion and has long been viewed by Lithuania as a threat to its safety and national security. Besides, the Lithuanian government estimates that around 60% of the nuclear project’s infrastructure could be reused for the proposed gas power plant.
Belarus obtained a US$9bn loan from Russia for the US$10bn project. Upon completion, the Ostrovets nuclear plant will entail two 1,109 MW VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors (PWRs), the first of which is slated to come online by the end of 2019 or early 2020. The second one is expected in late 2020.
Lithuania is trying to reduce its energy dependence on Russia and sees LNG imports as one of the key means to achieve this objective. The Klaipeda LNG import terminal is currently using a fraction of its capacity of 2.7 Mt/year but flows are expected to double once gas interconnections with Poland and Finland become operational. The terminal will remain operational by at least 2024 and the government plans to extend its operational life until 2044. Thus, it advised the state-run terminal operator Klaipėdos Nafta to either purchase the existing leased operational floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) by late 2024 or to replace it with a new LNG storage vessel after this date.