Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Energy, Energy Market, Lithuania, Nuclear power plant

Once Astravyets is launched, it will allow not to provide reserve services to Belarus, but Lithuania will also lose reserve assistance from other BRELL countries.

Lithuania's power transmission company Litgrid says it has found another way of securing that assistance – via its links with Sweden and Poland.

Once the Astravyets nuclear facility comes online, in case of its disconnection, the Belarusian operators could ask Lithuania to provide the emergency reserve service under the existing reserve agreement and Lithuania would need to switch the Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant on.

"For that not to happen, and for Lithuania not to provide its system's services under the Law on Necessary Measures (of Protection Against The Threats Posed By Unsafe Nuclear Power Plants In Third Countries) to the country where an unsafe electricity is operated, Litgrid sent out letters to the operators of the BRELL countries, notifying them about its withdrawal from the agreement," Giedrius Radvila, director of Litgrid's Power System Operations Department, told the news website.

The decision will be implemented from next year and Lithuanian will stop proving 100MW of power reserve to BRELL countries, but will also no longer receive 400MW of reserve from Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Belarus.