Belarus ups H1 electricity imports 50%
MINSK. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Belarus imported 2.4 billion kWt hours of electric power in the first half, 50% more than in H1 2010, the company Belenergo told Interfax.
According to the country's Fuel and Energy Ministry, 808.7 million kWt hours of electricity flowed into Belarus in the first half, 48.3% less year-on-year.
Belarus imported around 1.59 billion kWt hours of electrical power from Russia during the half.
As reported previously, all the power Belarus imported in January-June last year came from Ukraine. "Electrical energy was not imported from Russia in the first half [of 2010], mainly because of efforts to cut costs," a Belenergo source said.
Belenergo figures indicate that the country exported 60.1 million kWt hours of power in the first half of 2011, 39% less year-on-year. Export volume depended on purchases by Baltic countries, and delivery was irregular and determined by prices on the European energy market.
Belenergo enterprises produced 15.4 billion kWt hours of electricity in the first half of this year, 3% less than in H1 2010.
Inter RAO UES and Ukrainian exporters suspended June power deliveries to Belarus due to past-due debt. The government and National Bank of Belarus issued a joint resolution saying that settlement for imported electrical power was among the country's critical import priorities, for which the National Bank was selling currency on the exchange. Belarus fully settled its debts to Ukraine and Russia a few days hence.
Delivery from the two countries resumed on July 1. Under a contract with Inter RAO UES, Belarus has guaranteed that this year it will import 3 billion kWt hours of electricity at a fixed price. The second part of the contract involves the possibility for an additionally imported over 2 billion kWt hours at agreed-upon prices
Ukrainian companies had planned to sell Belarus a record amount of power, upwards of 2.4 billion kWt hours, more than half of that (1.5 billion kWt hours) from DTEK and the rest from Ukrinterenergo. In realization of these plans, the volume of Ukrainian electricity delivered to Belarus in 2011 will be the most for the last twenty years.