The talks were held amid a new energy row that has affected the European Union, after Russia cut off the flow of oil to the EU through Belarus, with which Moscow is locked in a bitter dispute over transit fees.

The cut-off, which came a year after Russia closed the spigots that carry gas through Ukraine to the EU, has again highlighted the need for all nations to diversify their sources of energy.

After the talks in Warsaw, Sandor Liive, chairman of the board of Eesti Energia, said Estonia had dropped most of the reservations it had expressed last month about bringing Poland on board the nuclear construction project.

"After today's meeting we have better knowledge of the Polish energy company and a clearer perception of the added value that Poland's participation would bring to the project," Liive said in a statement.

"Definitely, there are advantages in Polish participation in an already started nuclear project," he added.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania last year gave the green light to a project to build a new nuclear power station to replace the Ignalina facility, which uses reactors similar to the one that exploded at Chernobyl in 1986, provoking the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Lithuania promised the European Union, which the three Baltic states and Poland joined in 2004, to shut down Ignalina by 2009.

In December, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas announced that Poland would join the project, but the leaders of Estonia and Latvia expressed reticence about bringing a fourth party on board.

On Tuesday, the head of Lithuania's energy company reiterated Vilnius's eagerness to include the Poles.

"We see Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne as a strong partner and are interested that this company should join the project," Rymantas Juozaitis, head of Lietuvos Energija, said.

A feasibility study conducted last year by the Baltic energy companies predicted the new nuclear facility would not come onstream before 2015, leaving a six-year gap between the closure of Ignalina and the inauguration of the new plant.

During that time, the Baltic states, and especially Lithuania, which derives 80 percent of its electricity needs from Ignalina, will have to seek energy sources elsewhere.

The feasibility study also showed that a new single-reactor plant with a capacity of 800 Megawatts, or a two-reactor, 1,600-Mw facility would require an investment of 2.5 billion to four billion euros.

Jacek Socha, head of Polish electricity group PSE said after Tuesday's meeting, that the total investment by all four parties could run up to five billion euros (6.5 billion dollars), and said the new plant's capacity could be as much as 3,200 Megawatts.

The new nuclear facility would be just one step towards reducing the Baltic states' reliance on Russia for their energy resources.

The three countries, which were Soviet republics from the close of World War II until 1991, still rely heavily on Russia for supplies of natural gas and oil, and their power grids remain linked to that of their former ruler.

earlier related report
Baltic, Polish electricity groups meet to discuss new nuke plant
Warsaw (AFP) Jan 09 - The heads of the electricity companies in the three Baltic states held talks here Tuesday with their Polish counterpart on a project to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania, Poland's PSE said.

"The heads of the four companies will hold talks all day Tuesday. Their meeting is closed to the press," the spokeswoman for the PSE electricity company, Dominika Tuzinek-Szynkowska, told AFP.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania last year gave the green light to a project to build a new nuclear power station on Lithuanian soil to replace the ageing Ignalina facility.

In December, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said Poland would join the project, but the leaders of the other two Baltic states expressed reticence about bringing a fourth party on board.

The Ignalina power station in eastern Lithuania, which the new facility will replace, has the same type of reactors as the one that exploded at Chernobyl in 1986, provoking the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Lithuania promised the European Union, which the three Baltic states and Poland joined in 2004, to shut down Ignalina by 2009.

A feasibility study conducted by the Baltic energy companies predicted the replacement facility would not come onstream before 2015, leaving a six-year gap between the closure of Ignalina and the inauguration of the new plant.

During that time, the Baltic states, and especially Lithuania, which derives 80 percent of its electricity needs from Ignalina, will have to seek energy sources elsewhere.

The new nuclear facility is seen as just one step towards reducing the reliance of the Baltic states on Russia for their energy resources.

The three countries, which were Soviet republics from the close of World War II until 1991, still rely heavily on Russia for supplies of natural gas and oil, and their power grids remain linked to that of their former ruler.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News
Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News