Lithuania's Nuclear Bill Jumps by €2 Billion

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Lithuania's stop-start Visaginas nuclear power plant project will cost €2 billion ($2.6 billion) more than expected to construct.

The troubled project, which is designed to help Lithuania and neighbouring Baltic countries, to wean themselves off Russian power imports, will now cost approximately €6.8 billion ($8.7 billion), according to a statement from the government's Ministry of Finance. The project was previously estimated to cost €4.8 billion ($6.2 billion). It will be built by energy consortium Visaginas Atomic Energy (VAE) (Vilnius, Lithuania), a joint effort between power companies from the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

Last month, the project took a positive step forward when the government signed a Concession Agreement with Hitachi Ltd (Tokyo, Japan). It sets out a contractual framework for getting the plant constructed by 2020-2022, with work being carried out by U.S.-Japanese consortium Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy (Tokyo, Japan) and VAE. In the future, there is scope for the plant to be expanded to 3,400 megawatts (MW). For additional information see April 4, 2012, article - Lithuania Advances Visaginas Nuclear Project.

The higher price tag for Visaginas comes as the government backed new draft laws to help promote a number of energy-related schemes. Alongside speeding up the development of the 1,300 MW nuclear plant, the government has put forward draft laws for a liquefied natural gas terminal (LNG) and the synchronisation of its electricity power grid with the rest of Europe.

"This day is a big step towards energy independence," said Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius. "The Visaginas NPP, the LNG terminal and the power grid synchronization with the European network serve as major steps made by the current Government towards securing Lithuania`s energy independence. These projects are economically beneficial for Lithuania and its people, and they also guarantee energy security and greater integration into Europe."

The Visaginas project has suffered a number of setbacks over the years, most recently the surprise withdrawal of Poland's state-owned, Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA (PGE) (Warsaw, Poland) last December. PGE was a founding member of Visaginas Atomic Energy (VAE) but pulled out of the project claiming it wanted to concentrate its resources on Poland's proposed return to nuclear power. For additional information see December 14, 2011, article - Poland's PGE Drops Lithuanian Nuclear Project.

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