Estonia President doubts her country will buy electricity from Belarusian NPP
Estonia President Kersti Kaljulaid / Euroradio
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid doubts that her country will be buying electricity from the Belarusian nuclear power plant in the future. According to Ms. Kaljulaid, it is hard to imagine this kind of trade unless significant investments into infrastructure are made on the lines connecting the grids in the Baltic states and Belarus.
"We don’t know whether that will be a business case here or that kind of trade, also thinking that the European Union has decided to go for climate neutrality by 2050 which means that there will be considerable taxes on the border of the European Union. Otherwise, there will be no space for green technologies to develop. So, I very much doubt that somebody will be ready to pay for back-to-back converters on any of these lines between the Baltic States and Belarusian grid for a market purpose, Kersti Kaljulaid said replying to a question from Euroradio.
Estonia joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Belarus is not a member of the European Union.
Ms. Kaljulaid stressed that where Estonians buy electricity "is not a political or governmental decision." "Estonia operates a free electricity market and we buy it from Nord Pool. Everybody who is accepted at Nord Pool as a seller also goes for us as someone who can sell electricity here. So, we take Nord Pool prices and our companies are free to trade or not the way they like to do," Ms. President added.
Unlike Lithuania, Estonia does not see the Belarusian nuclear power plant as a safety threat. Previously, Estonian leaders did not rule out that the country could buy electricity from the Belarusian reactor when the power plant was commissioned.
