Public debates on Belarusian nuclear station’s power linkup on 26 December

Public debates will be held in Minsk on 26 December to discuss the project to build the system to collect the electricity the Belarusian nuclear power plant will generate and connect the power plant with the national power grid, representatives of Belarusian power grid design enterprise Belenergosetproect told BelTA.

In line with the law on state ecological expert evaluation the 330kV overhead power lines that will reach the Belarusian nuclear power plant are subject to public debates for the sake of discussing their environmental impact.

According to the Grodno Oblast electrical company Grodnoenergo, which is the customer of the project, 330kV overhead power lines and electric substations will be built and reconstructed in Minsk Oblast, Grodno Oblast, and Vitebsk Oblast in 2014-2018 for the sake of steady parallel operation of the nuclear power plant and the national power grid. Trees and bushes will be cut as part of the project.

Specialists of Grodnoenergo, Belenergosetproect, and the district administrations where the project will be implemented will take part in the public debates.

Information about the project’s assessed environmental impact is available on the websites of Grodnoenergo and Belenergosetproect. The information is also available as hardcopies from the electrical companies in the districts where the project will be implemented.

The project to build the system to collect the electricity the Belarusian nuclear power plant will generate and connect the power plant with the national power grid will be implemented step by step, with 23 steps scheduled for the period. Plans have been made to build over 1,000km of 330kV overhead high-voltage power lines in Minsk Oblast, Grodno Oblast, and Vitebsk Oblast. As much as 600km of high-voltage power lines will be reconstructed and 890km of fiber optic cables will be laid. A new 330kV transformer substation will be built in Postavy, Vitebsk Oblast. Four 330kV substations in Ross and Smorgon, Grodno Oblast will be reconstructed in addition to a 220kV substation in Stolbtsy, Minsk Oblast, and a 330kV open-type-bus-and-switch arrangement at cogeneration plant No. 4.

According to Grodnoenergo, capital outlays as part of the project implementation will exceed $340 million, including $110 million for buying the necessary equipment and materials. North China Power Engineering Company (NCPE) has been chosen to be the general contractor for the project. BelTA reported earlier that plans have been made to use a $323.8 million tied credit line from the Export-Import Bank of China (95% of the costs) to implement the project.

In line with the contract signed by Grodnoenergo and NCPE Belarusian construction and installation companies will have to perform at least 45% of the work involved in implementing the project.