Education and Science

Lithuania's power transmission system operator Litgrid and the university signed the six-month contract on Dec 30, based on information from the central public procurement website.

"The aim of this study is to analyze all possible technical and commercial alternatives and their combinations, to establish marginal acceptable alternative for Litgrid, which would allow introducing maximum physical and commercial restrictions for Belarusian electricity to enter the Lithuanian power transmission system and trade market,: Litgrid said in a comment.

Legal amendments, signed into law by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, came into force in January and they provide for additional measures to bar market access for electricity from Belarus' almost-completed Astravyets nuclear facility.

Under the amendments to four laws, companies will not be issued licenses to import electricity from the Astravyets plant once it is launched.

Moreover, if a governmental commission vetting deals by strategic enterprises decides that an importer poses a national security threat, its license will be suspended.  

The amendments will take effect in January 2020.

In 2017, the Seimas passed a law declaring the Astravyets plant a threat to national security, environment and public health. The government later approved an action plan for blocking electricity imports from the plant.

The government says the Astravyets plant under construction some 50 kilometers from Vilnius fails to meet international safety standards, an allegation that Minsk denies.