Lithuania protests Belarus' launch of nuclear plant near border

On Wednesday, Lithuania condemned the launch of Belarus nuclear plant and sent a note of protest to Minsk.

The plant, located some 30 kilometres from the border, poses a nuclear and environmental threat to Europe, as well as to Belarus and Lithuania, according to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.

Vilnius urged Minsk to suspend further operation of the nuclear facility until the highest nuclear safety standards and environmental requirements are met.

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry also said the launch of the nuclear plant runs counter to the Espoo and Aarhus Conventions. Moreover, the EU stress test recommendations have not been implemented.

On Tuesday, Lithuania's power transmission system operator Litgrid announced that Belarus had launched power production at the Astravyets NPP.

Lithuania then suspended power trading with Belarus. However, electricity still physically flows into the Baltic energy market via the common infrastructure, as the three Baltic states and Belarus are linked by a common BRELL grid controlled from Moscow.

#Lithuania has set zero capacity for commercial electricity flow from Belarus after #Astravets NPP starts generating electricity. Our TSO immediately implemented requirement established by the law https://t.co/kxiYqDZaZP pic.twitter.com/cQ2EHpHHni
— EnergyMinistryLT (@MinEnergyLT) November 3, 2020

The three Baltic states are due to synchronise their networks with continental Europe by 2025.

As Lithuania has not yet endorsed the pan-Baltic rules for power trade with Russia, Latvia plans to launch electricity trade with Russia via their joint link on November 5.

Therefore, the electricity produced at Astravyets could still reach the common Baltic energy grid via Russia and Latvia.

Earlier in October, Moscow said Lithuania’s move to block Astravyets electricity was “discriminatory” and urged Vilnius to reconsider.