„Even though we are trying to switch to fully renewable sources, i.e. solar and wind, it is widely believed that once we reach 80% of electricity generation, the remaining 20% or perhaps 10% is prohibitively expensive to achieve using only solar or wind, so other alternatives must also be considered,“ said Vytenis Barkauskas, Head of the LEA's Energy Security and Innovation Centre, in his presentation of the need for nuclear power in Lithuania.
On Friday, the LEA presented a study on Lithuania's energy outlook 2030, carried out with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). According to LEA analysts, this study will be included in the updated National Energy Independence Strategy (NENS).
The strategy foresees the possibility of installing a fourth-generation small nuclear reactor in Lithuania by 2028.
As LEA analyst Barkauskas pointed out, the need for safe, climate-neutral power generation in the nuclear sector will grow in the future.
„The most energy-secure countries are those that combine nuclear power, renewables and indigenous resources, which in many cases are not clean – in this case, coal and gas,“ he said.
„If we go back to 2022, it is a year of crisis, war in Ukraine and, simultaneously, electricity shortages. The main reason for this was the reduction of generation in European nuclear power plants,“ he added.
He said this was particularly influenced by the drop in nuclear generation in France in 2022 when a country that had historically been an exporter of electricity turned to importing it.
Regarding public concerns about nuclear reactors' safety, Barkauskas pointed out that the number of accidents or deaths caused by air pollution in atomic power plants is comparable to that of wind or solar power plants.
„Lithuania has so far been probably the only country (in the North and Central European region – ELTA) that has abandoned nuclear energy and has not extended its use. The other country is now, of course, Germany. But the countries around us in the region (Estonia, Poland, Sweden – ELTA) have plans to develop nuclear energy,“ Barkauskas said.
The analyst cited Finland as an example, where the opening of a third nuclear reactor in 2023 has led to a drastic drop in electricity prices for the population.
According to the Energy Law, the National Energy Independence Strategy (NENS) must be reviewed at least every five years. The Minister of Energy, Dainius Kreivys, presented the updated strategy at the end of March.
According to him, Lithuania's high potential for renewable energy resources could make it one of the first European Union (EU) countries to generate a surplus of electricity by 2050. According to Mr Kreivys, this surplus would meet part of Europe's electricity needs following the suspension of energy imports from Russia. The Minister has also said that a political decision on installing nuclear reactors should be taken by 2028. According to Mr Kreivys, the first nuclear reactor with a capacity of 0.5 GW (gigawatts) could be operational by 2038 and the rest by 2050.
