MINSK, 12 October (BelTA) – The Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) made it possible to replace more than 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas, deputy chief engineer for production and technical support of Belarusian nuclear power plant Boris Paramonov during the roundtable "Economic and environmental aspects of nuclear energy" at the 25th Belarusian energy and environmental forum Energy Expo, BelTA has learned.
“In January-September 2021, the BelNPP generated 3.4 billion kWh of electricity. The plant has generated 3.9 billion kWh since the power start-up (November 2020). A total of 3.2 billion kWh has been supplied to the power grid. At estimated 930 million cubic meters of natural gas were substituted in January-September, and more than 1 billion cubic meters as of to date,” said Boris Paramonov.
According to him, natural gas accounted for 95% of the fuel and energy balance of the country in 2007. “The commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will help reduce this share up to 60%. This means that we will save about 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year. It will also help us improve the country's energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the deputy chief engineer stressed.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant uses the Russian design AES-2006 featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. The plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom is the general contractor. The 3+ generation nuclear units fully comply with international standards and the safety recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
