Trial connection of BelNPP No. 2 power unit to grid planned for March-April - Belarusian Energy Ministry
MINSK. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The first trial connection of the No. 2 power unit to the grid at the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP) has been planned for the spring this year, Belarus's Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk said in a statement.
"The first trial connection of the second power unit to the grid at the BelNPP is planned for March-April. Commissioning of the second power unit is scheduled for the second half of 2023," Mikhadyuk was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry's press service.
Installation of technological equipment and pipelines at the second power unit is almost complete, and commissioning is being carried out, he said. "Preparations are underway for heating and hydraulic testing of the first and second circuits of the reactor plant for strength and density. Then the minimum controllable power level of the reactor plant will follow," the deputy minister said.
Before putting the power unit into commercial operation, "a large amount of physical, electrical, and other tests will have to be carried out in the unit's various operating modes with a phased increase in its capacity," he added.
Mikhadyuk also said that since its inclusion in the grid on November 3, 2020, power unit No. 1 of the BelNPP has generated 11.7 billion kWh of electricity, which made it possible to replace about 3.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas. "Currently, the unit is operating at nominal capacity," the deputy minister said.
With the commissioning of the second power unit, the BelNPP will produce about 18.5 billion kWh of electricity annually and provide about 40% of the country's domestic needs, he recalled.
Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said in December 2022 that the second unit's power startup, during which the unit will be connected to the energy system, was planned for Q2 2023. The unit is 97% complete, he said.
Belarus is completing the construction of the NPP near the town of Ostrovets in the Grodno region with Russian VVER-1200 reactors. It will consist of two power units with a capacity of 1.2 GW each. JSC ASE, Rosatom's engineering division, is the general contractor for the construction of the NPP. A Russian government loan of $10 billion was attracted in order to finance the construction of the NPP.
The first power unit was commissioned on June 10, 2021. It had been under scheduled maintenance since April 2022 and re-connected to the power grid on November 9.
The second unit reactor's physical startup phase began in December 2021. It had been due to go into service by the end of 2022.
