There is a lot of discussions about how much Lithuania will pay for the energy after the Ignalina NPP is closed at the end of 2009. There is a good article in the Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a9b9e1b4-c011-11dd-9222-0000779fd18c.html?n) that touches upon these issues.
There was a lot of effort and meetings as of late - as what to do next. All the Baltic states and Poland have agreed to open a new nuclear plant in Lithuania, but that will be some years after the current plant is closed. At the same time Russia (Kaliningrad district - former Koeningsberg), Belarus and Poland started talking about nuclear. Russia indicated that they can supply energy to the Baltics. It looks that Russian project is intended to compete with the effort in the Baltics.
So, here is a thought - if they go ahead and build - would that perhaps be the best option for the Baltics? Consider that Kaliningrad with its 1 million population and Russian design nulear plant will have an energy surplus which they will be itching to sell. Furthermore new energy links from Lithuania or Latvia to Sweden and Germany through Poland will soon be there? The question is timing of course, but it seems that the supply side will be there.
Maybe from the European perspective it would be worth to extend the Ignalina's NPP unit 2 operation for several more years and and see what the future will bring: think along the lines of Toshiba's micro-reactors or Hyperion's ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment