22 Jun (NucNet): The Lithuanian parliament yesterday approved the concession agreement for the Visaginas nuclear power plant, a planned 1,350-megawatt Hitachi-GE advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) to be built at the existing Ignalina nuclear site.
Parliament approved the concession agreement previously signed in March between Lithuania’s energy ministry and Hitachi, the ministry said in a statement on its website. The law approving the agreement still has to be signed by Lithuania’s president.
The agreement provides the contractual framework for the Visaginas plant. It details the rights of the project company to design, construct, operate and eventually decommission the plant. It also sets a timeline for delivery.
The regional partners for the plant – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – and Hitachi can now proceed with discussions on the establishment of the project development company, the statement said.
A final investment decision on whether or not to go ahead with the project is expected in 2015. Hitachi has said the new unit could be commercially operational by 2021 or 2022.
The Visaginas unit is intended to help replace generation from the two 1,300-megawatt Ignalina reactors that were shut as part of Lithuania's EU membership agreement.
Earlier this month the European Commission approved the Visaginas nuclear power plant proposal under the Euratom Treaty.
