Belarusian nuclear power plant's second unit expected to commission by year end

MINSK, 17 October (BelTA) – The second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is supposed to commission by the end of the year. Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich made the statement during the 27th Belarusian energy and ecology forum Energy Expo, BelTA has learned.

Performance testing of equipment of the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant was finished last week as part of the pilot commercial operation stage. The second unit had been operating at the rated output for 15 days. Performance testing is supposed to confirm that technological systems, core equipment, and auxiliary equipment of the unit meet design parameters and safety requirements.

Viktor Karankevich said: “The nuclear power plant's second unit is now operating at the rated output level. Over 440 tests in various duty cycles of the unit were performed over the course of the pilot commercial operation stage. In order to accept the second unit for operation acceptance commissions have started working. Work is in progress on filing the necessary documents. The government's acceptance commission has started working. It is led by Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Piotr Parkhomchik. The second unit is supposed to commission this year.”

The official stressed that the nuclear power plant has already made a tangible contribution to reinforcing Belarus' energy security. Since the first unit was connected to the joint power grid on 3 November 2020, the Belarusian nuclear power plant has generated over 20 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, which allowed substituting 5.3 billion m3 of natural gas and saving over $650 million.

The energy minister also noted that over the years of existence the Belarusian energy and ecology forum Energy Expo has become the fuel and energy industry's largest exhibition and business venue, which facilitates the broad promotion of the latest technologies and services across the industry as well as high-tech projects designed to bolster the country's energy security. The forum traditionally gathers a broad range of participants: representatives of state administration agencies, the largest companies in the sphere of power engineering, manufacturing sector, ecology, and scientific organizations. In addition to showcasing their accomplishments they discuss the key aspects that determine the future development of the industry.

Nuclear energy industry occupies a special place on the forum's agenda. “In addition to further mastery of peaceful uses of nuclear technologies today we have to use the potential of allied trades as much as possible: manufacturing sector and additive technologies, equipment simulator production, digitization, energy storage systems for power engineering industry and electric transport,” Viktor Karankevich stressed. He said he was confident that the business agreements reached at the forum and the recommendations worked out at the forum would contribute to the accomplishment of these most important tasks.