Related News
EU agrees to fund power cable to Baltic states
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE European Union has agreed to allocate 175 million euros (US$240 million) to build an undersea power cable between Sweden and the Baltic states, Lithuania's Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said yesterday.
The decision is a major breakthrough for the Baltics, who despite joining the EU in 2004 will become dependent on Russian electricity after Lithuania shuts down its Chernobyl-type nuclear reactor at the end of the year.
According to the new project, the 350-kilometer cable will run beneath the Baltic Sea and connect Sweden with either Lithuania or Latvia. Construction should begin in 2010 and be completed by 2016.
So far, however, the two Baltic countries have been unable to agree who should get the link.
Kubilius met his Latvian counterpart, Valdis Dombrovskis, yesterday to discuss the project.
Dombrovskis expressed hope that a final decision would come soon. "It must be determined by experts. It's they, not politicians, who draw the lines on energy projects," he said.
Though Lithuania shares a border with Poland, another EU member, the two countries do not share the same electricity grid. The only connection between the Baltics and the European grid is an underwater cable between Estonia and Finland.
The decision is a major breakthrough for the Baltics, who despite joining the EU in 2004 will become dependent on Russian electricity after Lithuania shuts down its Chernobyl-type nuclear reactor at the end of the year.
According to the new project, the 350-kilometer cable will run beneath the Baltic Sea and connect Sweden with either Lithuania or Latvia. Construction should begin in 2010 and be completed by 2016.
So far, however, the two Baltic countries have been unable to agree who should get the link.
Kubilius met his Latvian counterpart, Valdis Dombrovskis, yesterday to discuss the project.
Dombrovskis expressed hope that a final decision would come soon. "It must be determined by experts. It's they, not politicians, who draw the lines on energy projects," he said.
Though Lithuania shares a border with Poland, another EU member, the two countries do not share the same electricity grid. The only connection between the Baltics and the European grid is an underwater cable between Estonia and Finland.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
