“The Energy Ministry has been mandated to consult and inform the regional partners as well as to take decisions-in-principle on the continuity of this project by July and to decide on the establishment of a joint venture by October 1,” the minister said during the question and answer session in the parliament (Seimas) on Thursday.
A draft national energy strategy would be submitted to the Seimas once the “complex picture” of the country’s energy sector was drawn, he said.
“Once we have that complex picture, including electricity and heating sectors, we will provide a full view of further energy strategy in Lithuania,” Neverovič said.
Last week, the Lithuanian government authorized Neverovič to consult with regional partners – the Latvians and the Estonians, as well as with Japan’s corporation Hitachi - whether they find the new terms of the project acceptable.
If the parties were to agree to proceed with the project together, a decision on the establishment of a joint venture for the implementation of this project would be taken by October 1.
After the working group, set up by Butkevičius' government, has found that the nuclear power project is too expensive for Lithuania and that the price of electricity generated at the new facility may be non-competitive, the authorities say that the project could only be continued if its terms were improved through talks with Latvian and Estonian energy companies and Hitachi.
Hitachi was chosen as a strategic investor for the project in the summer of 2011. The previous government's plan called for building a 1,380-megawatt reactor in Visaginas, in the eastern part of the country, together with Hitachi, Latvia, and Estonia.
