NPP Unit No. 1 was shut down following an abnormal incident, while fuel prices at filling stations rose again.
Key events
On April 27, Power Unit No. 1 was disconnected from the grid for preventive maintenance on the equipment. It should be recalled that on January 15, 2026, Unit 1 was shut down for scheduled maintenance and refuelling. After that, there was no information about the restart of Unit 1. It is likely that after completion of the maintenance the unit was restarted, and during the ramp‑up to nominal capacity an emergency occurred, which forced the reactor to be shut down and disconnected from the grid. Moreover, the maintenance itself lasted longer than usual—102 days.
In 2026, it is planned to extract 2 million tonnes of peat, produce more than 800 thousand tonnes of briquettes and dried peat, and 227 thousand tonnes of non‑fuel products. Exports of non‑fuel peat products in Q1 2026 doubled compared to the same period last year and amounted to 16 thousand tonnes. For 2026, exports of such products are planned at 67.1 thousand tonnes.
On April 29 at around 22:30, an abnormal situation was recorded at Minsk CHP‑3, which led to a steam release, because of which elevated noise levels were observed in the area around the plant. At the same time, heat and steam supply to consumers within the CHP‑3 service area was not disrupted.
RUE “Belpochta” has expanded its vehicle fleet with 12 Bestune NAT E05 electric vehicles. The vehicles are used for cargo delivery on urban routes.
From March 16 to May 15, drilling‑and‑blasting seismic exploration works will be carried out in the Petrikau District of the Gomel Region near the villages of Bobryk, Biarozauka, and Mekhidavichy.
At the Belarusian Gas Processing Plant, another scheduled shutdown maintenance campaign has begun. Such maintenance is carried out once every two years. In 2026, the repair works will last until April 11. The main facilities of the plant have been shut down for planned maintenance.
By 2035, it is planned to study the Prypyats Trough (an oil‑bearing region) by 90 %.
This year, construction is planned of a 330 kV high‑voltage transmission line “Beryozovskaya GRES — Pinsk — Mikashevichi.” The length of the line is 180 km.
An electrode hot‑water boiler with a capacity of 40 MW has been installed at the Southern District Boiler House of the Brest.
At АВТ‑6 at Naftan, new pontoons have been installed in vertical steel tanks R‑262 and R‑263. In addition, at Naftan’s oil compounding unit, the vehicle scales and the weighbridge building have been modernised.
On Monday, March 30, at OJSC “Naftan,” the 2026 bitumen season started after scheduled maintenance. At Bitumen Unit No. 2, the first hundreds of tonnes of road bitumen grade 70/100 were shipped to consumers.
Statistics and data
By Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 184 dated April 13, 2026, an increase in export duties is provided for. Tariffs on liquefied hydrocarbon gases are increasing from USD 0 to USD 5.2 per tonne, and for ethane, butane, and isobutane—from USD 0 to USD 4.6 per tonne.
From April 4, 2026, the maximum retail prices for motor fuels at filling stations in the Republic of Belarus increased by 3 kopecks and amounted to AI‑92 — 2.57 BYN, AI‑95 — 2.67 BYN, AI‑98 — 2.89 BYN, Diesel fuel — 2.67 BYN
Nine new facilities were added to the well stock of Belorusneft in March. Five wells were commissioned at the Rechitsa field, two at the Marmovichi field, and one each at the Moskvichevskoye field and the Ostashkovichi area.
The staff of the Derrick Erection Directorate (VMU) installed four drilling rigs. In addition, over the past month VMU specialists prepared four sites for drilling construction.
Belorusneft plans to drill more than 530 wells by 2030.
Results of the State Programme “Energy Saving” for 2021–2025: the reduction in GDP energy intensity amounted to minus 1.8 % compared to the 2020 level; the share of local fuel and energy resources in gross consumption reached 16.8 %; the share of renewable energy sources in gross consumption amounted to 7.1 %; savings of fuel and energy resources from energy‑saving measures reached 3.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent; 71 energy facilities using local fuel and energy resources with a total thermal capacity of 351.3 MW were commissioned.
Sales of electric vehicles grew by 141 % in 2025. Today, there are already more than 54 thousand electric vehicles in operation. According to forecasts, in four years there will be at least 300 thousand electric vehicles on the country’s roads.
This year, about 550 new charging stations will be installed across the republic: 220 fast chargers and 230 slow chargers. In addition, 12 large charging hubs and another 100 stations will appear. By the end of 2030, at least 3,500 electric charging stations should be operating in Belarus.
Belarus has introduced a preferential electricity tariff for certain categories of summer cottage owners, in particular: non‑working pensioners, people entitled to electricity payment benefits, and persons with Group III disabilities. For them, electricity will be billed at a preferential tariff of 0.12 BYN per kWh.
Statements
“Energy independence is a national priority,” stated Vitaly Kretsky, Head of the Department for Energy Efficiency. At the end of 2025, the country’s energy self‑sufficiency exceeded 30 %, and by 2030 it is planned to increase this figure to 33 %, the speaker emphasized According to the updated Energy Security Concept, the energy self‑sufficiency indicator in 2025 amounted to 32.1 %, with a target of 33.2 % for 2030. An increase of 1.1 % over five years is a very low indicator for a national priority.
Topic of the issue: Operating conditions for renewable energy sources in Belarus
On May 4, Belarus adopted new quotas for the installation of renewable energy sources (RES) for 2026 in the amount of 38.7 MW. Of this total: wind power — 18.186 MW biogas — 10 MW; solar energy — 4.861 MW; wood fuel and biomass — 5 MW; hydropower — 0.7 MW
Previously, quotas were set for the period 2025–2029 and amounted to 43.18 MW for the entire period. Of this, only 3 MW were allocated to wind and just 1 MW to solar. Thus, the quotas have increased significantly.
It should be taken into account that after 2021, quotas were not allocated at all, meaning that in practice it was prohibited to connect new RES capacities to the power grid (generation for own needs remained possible).
In 2025, installed RES capacity remained unchanged, while electricity generation increased significantly, primarily at biomass facilities (growth from 14.4 to 76.4 million kWh). This is likely the result of efforts to increase the use of pellets, the sales of which faced difficulties after sanctions were imposed on Belarus’s forestry industry.
Of particular interest is the capacity factor (CF). This indicator characterizes how efficiently, and fully installed capacities are utilized. As a rule, for RES it is limited by meteorological conditions. This is because curtailment of RES generation is used extremely rarely, since they have minimal marginal costs (excluding capital and fixed costs), and it is this indicator that is used to determine the dispatch order of generating capacities. Thus, RES are almost always dispatched first. Restrictions on the operation of sources such as wind and solar can be observed only under surplus conditions, when even the minimum possible output of other generators exceeds electricity demand.
Calculation of CF based on Belenergo data shows that in 2020—the last year of power system operation without a nuclear power plant—the CF of solar stations was about 12–13 %, and after 2022 it declined to 6 %. A similar situation is observed in wind power: with a maximum CF of 19 %, it is currently in the range of 14–15 %. At the same time, the CF for biomass plants in 2025 increased to 59 %, whereas in 2020 it was at the level of 19–20 %. This may be related to efforts to increase pellet utilization, for which sales problems arose following sanctions on the forestry sector.
Thus, we see the consequences of the decision to allow restrictions on electricity generation from RES: for solar power, this reduced output to half of its potential.
The increase in quotas for RES construction suggests that energy planners forecast greater opportunities for electricity generation from RES. The capacity factor of renewable energy sources should also begin to increase.
Материал доступен на русском языке: В Беларуси увеличили квоты на строительство ВИЭ. Энергетический дайджест за апрель 2026
