Turbine Generator at Ignalina Power Plant in Lithuania Restarted

VILNIUS. July 30 (Interfax) – A turbine generator at power unit 2 of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which was recently stopped because of a staff mistake, was restarted on Wednesday.

“The generator is expected to reach its optimal capacity, which is about 650 megawatts, by the evening,” the plant’s press service told Interfax.

The turbine generator will operate for only several days and should be stopped for the unit’s planned maintenance next weekend, which will last until the end of September, the Lithuanian grid operator Lietuvos Energija told Interfax.

During the power unit’s maintenance, Lithuania is expected to satisfy its need for power by increasing the capacity of other national power plants and importing electricity from Russia, Estonia, and Scandinavian countries.

Ignalina power plant Chief Engineer Genady Negrivoda told Interfax earlier that a turbine generator had been switched off through a staff mistake while one of the plant’s units was being stopped for maintenance on Tuesday.

Lithuania shut down one of the two power units of the Ignalina nuclear power plant at the end of 2004, and the second unit should be shut down at the end of 2009.

Lithuania is seeking the European Union’s approval for extending the operation of power unit 2 at the Ignalina plant until a new nuclear power plant is constructed and commissioned. The new nuclear power plant should be built jointly by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland and commissioned in 2015-2017.

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