OREANDA-NEWS. October 03, 2008. The Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund is supporting the construction of a power interconnection between Lithuania and Poland by contributing EUR2 million to studies examining the financial, technical and territorial planning of the project and its environmental impacts, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The planned power link will consist of a two-circuit 400 kV overhead line connecting Alytus (Lithuania) and Elk (Poland) substations, back-to-back converter stations in Alytus and the reconstruction of the Alytus and Elk substations. The projected transfer capacity of the transmission line is 1000 MW. This would allow for the transmission of up to 8 TWh per year.

The main objective of the project is to increase the supply security and system reliability in the Baltic region and the integration with the European power networks after the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant by the end of 2009. The decommissioning is carried out with grant support of the EBRD-administered fund.

Based on preliminary calculations, the construction of the interconnection Alytus- Elk will cost ?237 million. The interconnection’s route should be clarified by mid-2009.

Darius Masionis, General Director of Lithuania’s grid operator Lietuvos Energija, said “We are glad that we succeeded in raising funds for the preparatory works of the project. This will doubtlessly help to accelerate our efforts.”

Vince Novak, EBRD Director for Nuclear Safety, said „We are looking forward to working with our Lithuanian and Polish colleagues on this very important project which we should all treat with a sense of urgency.“

The Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund started its work in autumn 2001. To-date more than EUR623 million have been committed by the European Community, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.