MINSK, 22 February (BelTA) – There are no problems with financing the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk on 22 February.
The official said: “If we talk about money spent on doing work in accordance with the blueprints, the readiness of the first unit stands at 87-88%, that of the second one – 65-67%. There are no problems with financing the nuclear power plant project.”
General construction work at the first power-generating unit has been virtually finished. “Only finishing is left to be done. It will be done after startup and commissioning work. Some beautification work will be finished in spring. Vigorous startup and commissioning work of the first unit is in progress. We will begin hydraulic testing within the next few days,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk explained. The 330kV gas-insulated switchgear of the Belarusian nuclear power plant was powered up by electricity from the power substation Postavy in 2018. It connects the national power grid and the nuclear power plant. The construction of the system to connect the Belarusian nuclear power plant with the national power grid was completed in late December.
As far as the second unit is concerned, the main construction work is in the final phase. The installation of primary process equipment has begun. Startup and commissioning work will be launched after that.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.
