Lithuania wants binding bids for nuclear plant contract

Sep 10, 2010, 18:00 GMT

Vilnius - The Lithuanian government said Friday it wanted to see binding tenders from international firms wanting to build a new nuclear power plant in the country.

Following the submission of proposals in November, the investor would be selected by the end of 2010, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement. Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas said the beginning of negotiations on the new plant was planned for the end of the year.

Earlier this year, an unspecified number of companies submitted non-binding bids for the construction of a nuclear plant at Visaginas in northern Lithuania. The new plant is to replace the Ignalina facility which was shut down at the end of 2009 amid fears that its Chernobyl-type reactors were unsafe.

According to officials, five companies remain in the running but only Spain's Iberdrola has confirmed that it is among the competing companies, which may also include Germany's RWE and E.ON.

Construction of a plant to serve the whole region in partnership with Estonia, Latvia and Poland is expected to cost up to 5 billion euros (6 billion dollars), depending on the number and type of reactors chosen, and is unlikely to be completed before 2020.

The new facility would reduce the Baltic states' reliance on Russian energy supplies, though the project has been delayed by years and no binding agreements have been signed by any of the countries involved.

Russia has announced plans to build its own Baltic nuclear power plant in the Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania.

Speaking at a NATO confernece in Riga Friday, the presidents of the three Baltic states and Poland avoided a direct commitment to the Ignalina project.

'Poland can always build its own nuclear power plant,' said Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski.

'We are open to proposals which are grounded in economic terms. It is not that there is a choice between Ignalina and Kaliningrad - Poland could also build its own,' Komorowski said.