"The Japanese government has carefully followed the process of the Lithuanian government review on energy strategy. (...) I expect that the Visaginas nuclear power plant project will strengthen the bilateral relations because of Hitachi's involvement and contribution in Lithuania. The government of Japan welcomed Hitachi participation in the Visaginas nuclear power plant project and would provide necessary support for Hitachi," the ambassador said.
"Hitachi as a strategic investor has committed itself to invest a large sum in the Visaginas nuclear power plant project," she said during an energy forum in Vilnius.
After a working group set up by the 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 Japan's Hitachi.
Japan's 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.
However, the non-binding referendum held in tandem with general elections last October brought uncertainty as to the future of the project.
The new government led by Algirdas Butkevičius has made conflicting statements about the project and now says that the facility could be built if the authorities managed to negotiate better conditions.
