MINSK, 3 June (BelTA) – Belarusian households now use much more electricity for heating and hot water supply, BelTA learned from Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich on 3 June. The official had delivered a report on the state and development of the country's energy complex to the head of state earlier that day.
According to the energy minister, incentives to encourage Belarusians to consume more electricity are already available in the country. Discounted tariffs on electricity are in place. The state reimburses some of the money citizens spend on buying electric equipment and reconstructing the electrical wiring in their homes. More and more Belarusian households use electricity for heating and hot water supply as a result. The amount of electricity Belarusians consume for these purposes quadrupled in January-April 2021 to reach 122 million kWh. The figure has already exceeded the amount of electricity consumed last year.
The official said that a total of 14.4 billion kWh of electricity was generated in Belarus in January-April 2021 and 13.9 billion kWh was used inside the country. The growth rate of over 109% is attributed to growing consumption of electricity in the real sector, by Belarusian households, and as part of the power grid, including the use of electricity by electric heating boilers in major population centers. Belarus exported 500 million kWh. “We expect electricity consumption to grow from 38 billion kWh in 2020 to 44 billion kWh in 2025. More electricity will be used by the real sector, by the population for heating and hot water supply, and by electric vehicles. There are positive figures in this regard, too. The electricity consumption growth rate by vehicle charging stations has reached 120% as against last year's level,” the energy minister said.
