“A nuclear power plant is obviously too big a financial commitment for the Lithuanian state. Particularly since it is unclear how our economy will grow if we continue to lose population at such a rate. In fact, I don’t think that electricity or gas is Lithuania’s biggest problem. The biggest problem is the decline in population,” he said in an interview to the Veidas weekly.
He believes that Lithuania needs less solar and wind energy and more biomass.
Mecelis' advice to Lithuania’s government is to distinguish between emotions, geopolitics, and finances.
“We used to be a nuclear state, but we are no longer one. We used to have this competitive advantage, but we don’t have it any longer. The fact that we had a nuclear power plant cannot be used as a factor when deciding on the project of a new nuclear power plant. We are basically starting from scratch and the longer we argue, the more we lose since others use that time to move forward, contrary to us.”
He believes that the construction of a nuclear power plant in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, where two new gas-fired power plants have already been built, is not cost-effective since the region has a surplus of electricity. However, if the nuclear power facility were to be built there, the region would definitely have an abundant supply of cheap electricity.
