18 Aug (NucNet): First concrete at the Baltic nuclear power plant in Russia’s Kaliningrad province will be poured in April 2011, the head of state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom told regional authorities yesterday.
Director-general of Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko said on a visit to the site yesterday that construction of the Baltic nuclear plant was “on schedule” and that first concrete would be poured in April 2011.
According to Rosatom, the first of two VVER-1200 units is to begin generating electricity “by the end of the first half of 2016” with the second due for completion in 2018.
In a statement on 2 October 2009, Rosatom previously said that that the new plant would make the region independent from electricity and gas imports. The plant is located near the town of Neman in the north-east of the Kaliningrad oblast (province), which is a Russian exclave that lies between Lithuania and Poland.
From 2018 the Baltic nuclear power plant is expected to generate more electricity than Kaliningrad will be able to consume, and the export of electricity to neighbouring countries is envisaged.
In an onsite interview yesterday, Mr Kiriyenko claimed that “not everyone is happy” with the construction of the plant, adding that Rosatom were nevertheless “ready to compete” and remained open to foreign cooperation, in the shape of investors and electricity consumers.
In April 2008, Rosatom and the Kaliningrad authorities signed a 5 billion euro (7.2 billion US dollars) contract for the construction of the two new Kaliningrad units with the special condition of seeking foreign participation of up to 49 percent.
Lithuania is planning to build its own nuclear power plant at Visaginas, near the existing Ignalina nuclear power plant site in the east of the country. Lithuania’s nuclear safety authority has said the aim is to complete it by 2018.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Putin Approves Construction Of Twin-Unit Kaliningrad Plant (World Nuclear Review No. 40, 2 October 2009)
Italy’s Enel Signs Agreement For Cooperation On Russia Units (News In Brief No. 76, 27 April 2010)
