Industry

Following a 20-year break the town of Elektrënai has become the capital of energy again. The last evening of the year 2009, when the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was decommissioned, the Lithuanian Power Plant functioning between Vilnius and Kaunas became the largest manufacturer of the country’s electricity.

During the past several decades this Power Plant was a reserve one. Its specialists had to begin to supply electrical energy without delay in case its generation by the nuclear power plant stopped. This used to happen on average three times a year, and the employees of Elektrėnai Power Plant always did their duty irreproachably.

When the year 2010 was approaching, a part of Lithuanian society feared that there might be a lack of electrical energy after the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant d had been decommissioned. However, the reliably functioning Lithuanian Power Plant did not let us down and at the present time it satisfies about one the third of Lithuania’s need for electricity.

Reliability of the Lithuanian Power Plant actually does not raise any doubts.

“The Lithuanian Power Plant is a guarantee that the country will have no shortage of electrical energy until 2020” says Pranas Noreika, General Director of the Lithuanian Power Plant 

During the past four years Units 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Power Plant have been updated, and modern control equipment has been installed. Two more units are also prepared for operation. The remaining two older 150-megawatt capacity units can also function; they are constantly switched on and tested. By the way, if all the units functioned at full capacity, the Lithuanian Power Plant would generate more electrical energy than one Unit of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.

The capacity of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was 1350 megawatts, whereas the capacity of the Lithuanian Power Plant is 1800 megawatts. Hence, the capacities of the Lithuanian Power Plant alone are sufficient to fully overcome the shortage of electrical energy that might occur due to decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.

A new unit is rising

At the end of last year the new 450-megawatt capacity electrical unit was begun to be built near the already functioning Power Plant. It will use only gas to generate electricity.

The Spanish Company Iberdrola Ingeneria y Construccion S.A.U won the ten-der to build the new unit, and
the USA Company General Electric will manufacture the most important equipment. The European Union funds have allocated half the money necessary to build the unit (the total value of the projects is LTL 1,1 billion). The construction of the new unit is planned to be completed in the autumn of 2012. Electricity generated therein will become cheaper by as much as 30 per cent.

“After this unit has been started to be used, it will be possible to start thinking about reducing the price of electrical energy for users”, said the Director General of the Lithuanian Power Plant Pranas Noreika.

Thus, how will the Lithuanian Power Plant be able to compete for prices when all the users have been given the possibility to choose the supplier?

According to Pranas Noreika, the new 450 MW capacity unit will be able to compete. On the other hand, when the crisis is over and the need for electricity increases, it will be necessary to build another 450 MW unit similar to the one that has been started to be built in Elektrėnai.

Lithuania both produces and imports

Prior to decommissioning the nuclear power plant, some people in Lithuania speculated that after 1 January 2010, Lithuania would remain dependent on the foreign suppliers of electrical energy. However, nothing of the kind happened. “Lithuania will always have the possibility to say “thank you, we do not need it, we have enough of our own. This is only a matter of price”, is convinced Pranas Noreika.

At the present time it is not only Lithuanian power plant but also Vilnius and Kaunas Thermal Power Stations, Kruonis Pumped Storage Power Station, Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant, and wind farms that generate electricity in Lithuania. “Half electrical energy that Lithuania needs should be generated in Lithuania”, underlines the Director General of the Lithuanian Power Plant Pranas Noreika.

Of course, importers of Russian electricity can offer competitive electricity prices in Lithuania. Lithuania buys gas necessary to the power plants from Russia at the European prices, and sometimes even at higher prices. It also buys petroleum residue, which can be used at the Lithuanian Power Plant.

“But in Russia itself power plants pay half less for fuel. They can sell electricity at a respectively cheaper price, of course, if they have a surplus of electrical energy. The Russians find it profitable, and last of all, this is good for our users too”, added Pranas Noreika.

The same laws of competition apply

Electrical energy is the same commodity as all others and the same laws of competition apply to it. At the present time Lithuania imports electrical energy from Russia, Belarus, Latvia, and Estonia. In the future it is planned to import electricity from Ukraine too. It is possible to import electricity from Scandinavia, but not in large amounts – only about 100 MW through ESTLINK link of 300 MW (the Baltic States built it together as the underwater cable Estonia – Finland and divided its capacity equally – (100 MW for each Baltic country). Independent suppliers of electrical energy sell electricity through the Lithuanian power exchange, which has been operating since the beginning of the year.

There are many discussions about green wind energy and it planned to have about 100 MW of it in Lithuania in the immediate future. And what is to be done if there is no wind? To disconnect the users? Of course, not. There must a relative reserve. So, when everything is added together, it turns out that wind energy is very expensive. In essence, this is luxury that only the rich countries can afford.