-Lithuania and Japan's Hitachi Ltd. Friday signed a
preliminary deal on the building of a new nuclear energy facility to
replace a plant closed in 2009 in the Baltic state under European Union
agreement.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius told reporters the
two sides "agreed on the content of the concession agreement and its
main components" with the final deal expected to be approved next year.
In July, Lithuania invited Hitachi in alliance with General
Electric Co to start talks on building a new plant, rejecting a bid by
the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric, owned by Japan's Toshiba Corp.
The move breathed new life into the program which was thrown
into doubt in November 2010 when Korea Electric Power Corp. unexpectedly
withdrew.
The project also involves fellow Baltic states Latvia and
Estonia after Poland decided to "freeze" its participation.
Visaginas nuclear power plant is meant to be online by 2020,
generating 1,300 megawatts, with an investment put at up to EUR5 billion
($6.7 billion).
Lithuania closed its only nuclear power plant, a Soviet-era
facility near Visaginas in the Baltic state's northeast, in December
2009, under the terms of its EU entry five years earlier.
The old plant provided 70% of Lithuania's electricity, forcing
the country to boost gas-fired power output as a result.
Lithuania still relies on Russia for all its natural gas.
Its ties with its communist-era master have been rocky since
independence and it has been locking horns with Russian gas giant Gazprom
over pricing this year.
In another Soviet hangover, Lithuania lacks power-supply links
with Western Europe.