The first thing that catches your eye is the abundance of monitors and circuits. From there, not only the station is controlled, but also communication with the energy system of Belarus is carried out. In particular, with dispatchers in all regions, as well as control of all processes. Now work at the nuclear power plant has increased – the phase of pilot operation of the second power unit has begun. There is still a lot of research and testing to be done. Not far – before the end of the year – from commissioning. What to expect with the commissioning of the second power unit? Where will the generated electricity go? What are the prospects for creating a unified electricity market and does the country need a third electricity unit? The correspondent of “SOYUZ” understood this.
So what do we have today? Since the integration of the first power unit into the unified energy system on November 3, 2020, almost 15 billion kWh of electricity has been produced, which has replaced 3.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas . With the commissioning of the second power unit, according to the Minister of Energy of Belarus Viktor Karankevich, about 18.5 billion kWh of electricity will be produced per year. Thanks to this, it will be possible to satisfy more than 40% of the electricity needs of the real sector of the economy and the population.
The power of the reactor plant of the second power unit gradually increases – from 50 to 100%
- As a result, this will also reduce the share of natural gas used for energy production. If, quite recently, the share of use of natural gas was more than 90%, then, taking into account the commissioning of BelNPP, this share should drop to 60%, the Minister specified.
Along with increasing energy security, the power grid infrastructure is also being improved. In the past five years alone, 9,400 km of power transmission lines have been constructed and upgraded in the country. The task for this year is to increase the volume of reconstruction of power grids by 1.4 times compared to 2022, and by 2025 the volume of their modernization should double.
Now the power of the reactor plant of the second power unit is gradually increasing – from 50 to 100%. This is the pilot operation stage. There are more than 200 tests of systems and technological equipment to be carried out in different operating modes of the unit, including with disconnection from the network – this is a worldwide practice. And here the specialists have a powerful help – the experience of commissioning the first power unit. What was it like starting from scratch? And not only for financial and technological reasons.
Here is what Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said about it during his visit to the station:
- Do you remember the screams when we were preparing to make a decision on the construction of a nuclear power plant? Especially from the West were heard in our address. Now we see what a well-considered and well-considered decision that was. And now our same critics are frantically pulling nuclear power plant projects out of the dusty cabinets… For Belarus, this is probably the most important project of the decade. We are actually at the finish line.
Aleksey Likhachev, general director of state-owned Rosatom, agrees. He noted that energy supply disruptions, price dances and the environmental aspect – all this is bringing the world back to nuclear power .
And he pointed out that BelNPP is the most advanced station in every way:
Our correspondent visited the central control center of the Belarusian nuclear power plant with other journalists. Photo: BELTA
– The first nuclear construction in fraternal Belarus became the basis for the further development of Russian-Belarusian interaction and cooperation both in the energy sector and in new areas of activity in various fields of the economy of the country, including nuclear medicine and digital technologies, raising them to a qualitatively new level.
The “project of the decade”, as the Belarusian nuclear power plant is called, will not only help save on the purchase of natural gas, reduce the amount of harmful emissions, but also provide a large amount of additional electricity to the grid . Of course, it will not be “superfluous”.
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p class=””>According to forecasts, as noted by Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich, electricity consumption in Belarus by 2030 could reach 47 billion kWh. Already in 2020, this figure was 38 billion kWh. The increase is expected at the level of 9 billion kW/h. An increase in energy consumption can be provided both by the real sector of the economy and by further electrification of the housing stock for heating and hot water supply. Incentive tariffs for electricity are provided when converting houses to electricity or building new houses. Particular attention will be paid to the development of electric transport.
Such forecasts make us think about the prospect of building a third power plant or a second nuclear power plant in the country. According to the Ministry of Energy, the situation for the future is being analyzed and calculations are in progress. Specialists and representatives of various bodies of state administration – the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Economy, the Department of Energy Efficiency of the State Standard and the National Academy of Sciences are involved in the work.
Strong opportunities for increased electricity consumption are also opened by the creation of a single State of the Union electricity market, which can start operating as early as the beginning of 2024. This issue has was discussed at the end of May at the level of the deputy energy ministers of Belarus and Russia.
Today this topic is one of the most relevant. Speaking about the benefits of the united market, Pavel Zavalny, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Energy Committee, noted:
- It can become a model on the basis of which the common market in energy resources of the EAEU will also work. It is a question of building this system in such a way that the association is obviously beneficial to all its participants, both to the countries producing energy resources and to the consuming countries. This will help attract new members to our integration associations and strengthen the positions of Russia and friendly countries.
Our correspondent visited the central control center of the Belarusian nuclear power plant with other journalists.
Folder “SOYUZ”
There are currently 440 nuclear units in service in 32 countries, and another 54 units are under construction. According to forecasts by the International Energy Agency, in 2023-2025, global nuclear energy production will increase by an average of 3.6% per year.
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