Key events
A state commission has been established to identify a priority location for the construction of a radioactive waste disposal facility.
Previously, specialists indicated that a radioactive waste disposal site in Belarus could be located near the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant in the Grodno region, as well as in the area affected by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. To manage radioactive waste, the state enterprise «Belarusian Organization for Radioactive Waste Management» has been established. It will act as the contractor for the construction of the national radioactive waste storage facility, with the first phase planned to be operational by 2030. According to the adopted strategy for radioactive waste management in the country, it is projected that during the expected operational lifetime of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, which is 60 years, approximately 100,000 cubic meters of solid radioactive waste and about 60 cubic meters of high-level radioactive waste will be generated.
Oil workers have commenced the construction of a pipeline. The oil gathering manifold will extend from the site near well No. 11 of Kartashovskaya Square and terminate with connection to the new switching node at the oil preparation facility. The pipeline will transport products from 10 oil fields. Its length will exceed 50 kilometers.
As part of the digitization program for the Belarusian power system and the implementation of the «Digital Substation» concept at the Gomel Electric Networks branch of the RUE «Gomelenergo,» a large-scale project is being carried out to reconstruct the 220 kV “Centralit” substation.
The substation is equipped with two power autotransformers with a capacity of 63 MVA each. Electrical supply to industrial enterprises in the city of Gomel is provided from the 6 kV distribution device RU.
The project includes:
- Construction of a new compact gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) 110 kV;
- Construction of a new distribution substation (DS) 6-10 kV;
- Installation of two power transformers 110/10/6 kV with a capacity of 25 MVA each;
- Installation of two voltage boosting transformers with a voltage of 10 kV and a capacity of 16 MVA each;
- Connection of existing 110 kV overhead lines to the GIS-110 with cable inserts;
- Conversion of Substation-220 Centralit and Overhead Line-220 Svetlogorsk – Centralit to a voltage of 110 kV.
At the Mozyr Oil Refinery, as part of the scheduled maintenance shutdown, work is particularly intense these days at the LK-6U No.1 fuel-catalytic production complex. The overhaul includes standard cleaning of technological equipment, with plans for replacing certain equipment units, sections of pipelines, and utilities.
Statistics and data
In 2023, the total electricity consumption in our country reached a record level of 41.1 TWh. This figure is significantly higher than in 2022 when consumption sharply declined due to sanctions imposed for involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Comparing with the indicators of 2021, electricity consumption increased by 550 GWh, of which 390 GWh was attributed to the increased consumption by the population for electric heating at preferential tariffs.
At the same time, 28.5% of the total volume is provided by the generation of electricity by the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant. In 2023, the NPP generated 11 710 GWh. Thus, the capacity utilization factor of the two NPP units reached 55%, which is approaching the target indicators, considering that the second unit was connected to the grid on February 3rd 2023.
Belarus has established an extensive network of electric vehicle charging stations, with the total number exceeding 1,000 units.
The level of natural gasification in rural areas in Belarus has reached 50%. Overall, the country’s gasification level stands at 83.4%.
Industrial oil reserves in Belarus amount to approximately 45 million tons, and from 2016 to 2023, they increased by 14 million tons.
The latest data on oil production (in 2021) showed production at the level of 1,730 thousand tons. Accordingly, the oil reserves amount to approximately 26 years. The level of self-sufficiency in domestic consumption is about 30%.
Statements
«Since the integration of the first power unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant into the unified energy system, it has generated over 27 billion kWh of electricity, which has allowed to replace more than 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Belarus has completely ceased importing electricity, gaining a source of affordable, environmentally friendly energy, the demand for which is growing both among the population and the industrial sector.» — Victor Karankevich, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Belarus.
The graph shows that the nuclear power plant played no role in stopping electricity imports, as it was connected to the grid three years after the actual cessation (the green vertical line indicates the moment of the first block’s connection to the power grid). Rather, due to prolonged downtime in 2021, electricity had to be imported. The nuclear power plant did affect exports, sharply reducing them due to the cessation of sales to the Baltic countries. The remaining volume of exports consists of deliveries to Ukraine, which were halted after aggression from Russia.
