Lithuanian official sees deal on new nuclear plant by early 2011

Feb 3, 2010, 13:48 GMT

Riga - A final agreement on construction of a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania will be signed by early 2011 at the latest, Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekomokas said Wednesday.

Speaking to the German Press Agency dpa on the sidelines of an energy and infrastructure conference in the Latvian capital, Sekmokas said an agreement binding together the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, plus Poland and a yet-to-be-chosen private strategic investor, would be signed 'at the end of this year or, in a worst-case scenario, early next year.'

'When the tendering process is over, all the regional partners, including Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania will sign a shareholder agreement on equal terms,' Sekomkas said.

'We consider this a regional project, and all regional partners should have access to participate on equal terms,' he added.

Five companies remain in the running to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania to replace the recently shuttered Ignalina facility.

A Lithuanian commission responsible for choosing the winner of a tendering process, which began on December 8, has shortlisted five firms from the 25 tenders received, though no companies have been named for reasons of market sensitivity.

The list will be whittled down further to just two contenders by the middle of the year, with the winner announced by the end of 2010.

The successful bidder is likely to be offered a stake of 51 per cent stake in the project.

Juhan Parts, Estonia's minister of economy and communications, also at the conference, praised Sekmokas and said he was pleased the much-delayed project was moving forward. He added that Estonia reserved the right to pursue its own nuclear projects.

The European Commission's Catharina Sikow-Magny said the commission would 'look positively' on any request to help coordinate the nuclear power plant project, but that no such request had been made so far.

The Soviet-era Ignalina facility was shut down on December 31, over fears that its Chernobyl-type reactors were unsafe.

Construction of a replacement project could cost up to an estimated 15 billion euros (20 billion dollars), depending upon the number and type of reactors chosen.

Meanwhile, work will continue on dismantling the Soviet-era plant and disposing of its waste - a process expected to take 30 years.

The Lithuanian government hopes the new nuclear plant will go online in 2018 to 2020.