VILNIUS - The Baltic states and Poland should not face major difficulties establishing electricity quotas from the proposed new Ignalia nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas believes, though he admitted that the detail still needs to be ironed out.
Speaking to the Ziniu Radijas radio network, Kirkilas said: "There are no disagreements as to the distribution of shares, there are disputes on the quantities of electricity. Poland has always demanded about 1,000 megawatts. Lithuania also needs slightly more than 1,000 megawatts… Meanwhile, the Latvians and the Estonians are satisfied with approximately 500 megawatts each. Overall capacity of two future reactors would exceed 3,000 megawatts, and I think that the energy companies of our countries are able to agree on the volumes of electricity," Kirkilas said in an interview to the news radio station Ziniu Radijas.
Last weekend Poland said it would need about one-third, or 1,000-1,200 megawatts of new N-plant's capacity, otherwise it would withdraw from the project.
It has been estimated that Lithuania would need some 1,250 megawatts in generation capacity after the shutdown of the Soviet-era Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP).
However, its share would be about 1,050 megawatts as the country would probably hold a 34 percent stake in the new plant. To meet domestic demand in the interim, Lithuania would use a new gas turbine at the Elektrenai power plant.
The first unit of new N-plant, which would likely have a capacity of some 3,200 megawatts, in due to come online in 2015.
