Belarus, Energy, Energy Market, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Lithuania
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Thursday, 28.03.2024, 14:07
Latvian EM: Lithuania’s concerns about Astravyets NPP are understandable, but Latvia’s interests come first
Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday in order to
mitigate, in a timely manner, the risks of a possible reduction in electricity
flow or negative tariff fluctuations, decided to give the green light for
moving electricity trade to the Latvian border once Lithuania suspends it.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Latvia's
decision to buy electricity generated by Belarus' Astravyets Nuclear Power
Plant (NPP), under construction close to the Lithuanian border, is
"regrettable" but "not very surprising".
Nemiro underscored though that the Latvian government’s
decision does not mean that Latvia will purchase electricity from Astravyets
because “there is no such Belarus or Russian electricity, there is just
electricity” that the state buys in the pool in order to reduce deficit.
“If Lithuania closes trade with Belarus, we move it to
Latvia. We do not have the capacity to produce enough energy, therefore a
deficit is forming,” the minister said.
Nemiro said Lithuania’s concerns about Astravyets’ safety
are understandable, and the minister agrees that this NPP should meet the
international criteria, but in this case Latvia’s interests come first. At the
same time, Nemiro underscored that the Baltic states should cooperate more
actively in order to promote synchronization of its power grids with Europe.