Poland, Baltics agree on new energy links, nuclear power plant

VILNIUS, Lithuania: Poland and Lithuania on Friday signed a major deal to build a high-voltage "energy bridge" to give the Baltic states a much-needed link to the European Union's electricity market.

The Baltic states' prime ministers also agreed to include Poland in the planned construction of a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania that could become operational in 2015.

Linking Lithuania's energy grid to those in Poland will cost some €304 million (US$404 million), according to preliminary estimates, and the EU has pledged €142 million (US$189 million) to help finance the project.

Lithuania hopes to begin construction in 2007 and to connect its grids with Poland's network by 2011. The two countries agreed to establish a company that will implement the project, government spokeswoman Nemira Pumprickaite said.

The deal comes just four days after the Baltic states and Finland inaugurated an undersea power cable — dubbed Estlink — to connect the Baltics to the Nordic and EU electricity network via the Gulf of Finland.

A growing fear of reliance on Russian energy and the imminent closure of Lithuania's nuclear power plant in Ignalina in 2009 have sparked a flurry of activity in the regional energy industry, with Baltic leaders rushing to integrate their energy systems with those of the EU.

After meeting with Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the three Baltic heads of government said they welcomed a new partner in the nuclear plant project — though on certain conditions.

"The main priority is not to stop the project. These consultations cannot be a reason for breaking this movement," Latvian Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis told reporters.

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip stressed that Poland should specify companies and quantify resources it can extend to the project. "We cannot waste time; we really need to build this nuclear power plant in Ignalina."

In March, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a deal to build a new nuclear power plant, estimated to cost up to €4 billion (US$5.3 billion). Baltic leaders have said the three countries and Poland together could handle the financing.

Under its entry deal with the EU, Lithuania shut down the first unit of the Ignalina plant in 2004, while the second unit must be closed by the end of 2009.

The Baltics' only nuclear plant, which provides some 80 percent of Lithuania's electricity, is similar in design to the Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine that became the site of the world's worst civilian nuclear accident in 1986.

Lithuania's economy has benefited from the production of surplus energy and has sold electricity to neighboring countries, including Belarus and Latvia.

Source:iht.com