BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
12/01/2009
Belarus to import 5 billion kWh of Russia's electric energy in 2009
In 2009, Belarus will import up to 5 billion kilowatt-hour of electric energy from Russia, of which 3 billion kilowatt-hour are assured supplies. It corresponds to the energy budget of the Belarus-Russia Union State in 2009, Belenergo Director General Pavel Yakubovich told BelTA commenting on the long-term agreements concluded between the Belarusian side and Russia's INTER RAO UES.
He noted that in 2008 the country imported 2.4 billion kilowatt-hour of the Russian electric energy.
"The new contract with ITNER RAO UES has been signed for 5 years with the opportunity to revise some key terms (volume, prices and others) in 2.5 years," the Belenergo Director General specified. In line with the document, Russia guarantees the supply of 3 billion kilowatt-hour of electric energy a year, the supplies of another 2 billion kilowatt-hour will depend on economic needs.
According to Pavel Yakubovich, Belarus is interested in this contract. A large-scale modernization of major energy production facilities is under way in Belarus, so the country is interested in importing electric energy to meet some part of its energy needs. "We will gain economically and will have an opportunity to raise our energy production efficiency due to the upgrade of the equipment," the Director General underlined.
Apart from that, Belarus and Russia have signed a five-year agreement on the transit of INTER RAO UES electric energy via Belarus using a new long-term payment model.
The sides are considering a possibility to set up a joint venture. "We are negotiating the establishment of a joint venture", Pavel Yakubovich said. "We are interested in the Belarus-Russia joint projects; it is a promising cooperation area." According to him, the sides may cooperate in the modernization of the Belarusian energy production facilities, the construction of DC link in the Ross-Bialystok power line. These projects, however, are still being considered, Belenergo is holding negotiations with other countries, including Poland.
The capacity of the Belarusian energy system is more than 7,800 megawatt. According to the Belarusian statistics committee, in January-November 2008, 31.6 billion kilowatt-hour of electric energy was produced in the country, 10.1% up from the same period of 2007.
Source:
http://capital.trend.az/?show=news&newsid=1394845&catid=616&subcatid=&lang=en
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